From the clutches of despair
by KudaKo
Summary: Fifteen students have escaped the grasp of the mastermind, Junko Enoshima, and now they find themselves in a dystopian monoworld with only their hope to drive them.
1. Chapter 1

Bright red lights blinked and obnoxiously load sirens blared as the large metallic door at the entrance/exit of the academy slowly creaked opened. When we enclosed ourselves in the school on the orders of the headmaster, I thought I would never see this door open ever again. However, here we are. Ready to step out into the big bad world, not exactly knowing the horrors that potentially await us. To say I wasn't scared would be a complete lie, however we've prepared and planned for this exact scenario… The only problem is that myself and Mukuro are the only ones that remember.

I started making my way out of the academy, albeit slowly due to my stomach wound. The entrance to the main building of the campus sat on top of a small hill which allowed me to survey the street below. The iron mesh fence that encircled the perimeter of the campus was in pieces, with some sections of it completely torn down. Past that was the main road with abandoned cars littering each lane. The buildings on the far side of the road seemed to be in poor condition as well with most of THE WINDOWS being smashed and some parts of the walls crumbled.

"Jesus Christ…" Muttered Oowada as he made his way down the incline.

"You and your sis caused all this shit?" Leon asked Mukuro.

She glanced over to him but didn't say a word as she abruptly sped off down the trail. Leon, meanwhile, just watched her carry on down the path before shrugging and following the rest of the herd. Realizing that I was being left behind, I caught up with them at the wrought iron gates of Hope Peak's entrance.

After squeezing my way through the bent bars of the gate, I reconvened with the rest of the group in the middle of the street nearby a burnt out car.

"This is completely insane..." Asahina murmured while taking in her surroundings.

"Agreed" Said Oogami, her expression holding its usual stoicism.

As my companions descended into frantic chatter, I vaguely noticed the small frame of Fujisaki wander down the street.

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Questioned Leon in an anxious tone.

"Game over man! Game over!" Hagakure wailed.

"Everyone stay calm!" Boomed Ishimaru, vying for the attention of the restless group. "We just need to keep our heads and devise a plan of action"

"I already have one planned" Said Togami as he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Brilliant!" Shouted Ishimaru. "What do you have planned?"

"Return to my family's Headquarters and start to rebuild Japan in the Togami image" The heir voiced with confidence.

"Where is this Headquarters?" Inquired Oogami. "Is it far?"

"What makes you think that you're invited?" Responded Togami. "I have no need for assistance from you absolute plebeians"

"Run that one by me again, motherfucker" Oowada angrily cracked his knuckles as he approached the Heir.

"I said I do not need assistance from you plebeians such as yourself" Retorted Togami. "Or is your simple mind not able to grasp basic vocabulary"

"Oh, you just fucked up big time pretty boy"

The biker gang leader raised a fist but was held back by the combined effort of Ishimaru, Hiro and myself.

"Calm down Oowada, please!" I cried desperately while trying my best to hold him back.

"Listen to your classmate!" Ishimaru shouted.

The biker backed off slightly but still gave the heir a glare that made me scared and I wasn't even on the receiving end of it. Togami, on the other hand, showed no signs of worry whatsoever as he snorted derisively before turning on his heels to walk away.

"Togami, listen. It's really not safe to go alone" I said, trying to reason with him. "Please stay with the rest of the group"

"Why should I?"

"Because if its anywhere near as bad or worse than it was before we sealed ourselves in, then you're going to want to stay with us" I answered. "Also, I know how far away the Togami HQ is from here. You won't make that alone"

"Oh really? I think you underestimate me" Togami said with his usual pomposity.

"I don't. No one would make it. Trust me, I know" I insisted, raising my voice slightly.

"I-urm… I'm sorry to interrupt but where is Fujisaki?" Maizono asked while looking around.

"It appears that Ms. Fujisaki has gone incognito" Yamada pulled his arm up to shelter his eyes from the sun as he swiveled around.

I peered down the road that I thought I saw him go down and, low and behold, he was down at the other end of the street. He was staring down one of the avenues, his little frame as still as a statue.

"Over there" Kirigiri said while pointing a gloved finger.

"Urmmm… What is she doing?" Wondered Maizono.

"Oi! Fujisaki!" Shouted Oowada. "Jeez, what is that chick doing?"

I jogged over to the petite programmer slowly, not trying to aggravate my wound. He was still gazing down the avenue when I got to him. I followed his gaze and nearly fainted at the sight.

Suited bodies littered the street, some with bullet holes peppering their bodies while others had long slash marks across them. There was spatters of blood all across the street; on the walls of buildings, on nearby cars, on the road. The feted stench of death choked at my lungs, causing me to gag so violently that I had to hold onto a lamp-post for support.

The rest of the group had now as well, their expressions soon turning into ones of pure horror. Even the likes of Celes and Togami looked upon the scene with disgust.

"Wha-… What?" Wheezed Ishimaru, red eyes bulging and face growing sickly pale.

"So much blood…" Fukuwa said woozily, struggling to keep her consciousness.

"So many people… Dead…Never coming back" Fujisaki said, tears starting to well in his usually cheerful eyes.

Kirigiri was hunched over one of the bodies, fiercely inspecting the wounds.

"Rigor mortis has set in" She noted as she tried moving one of the limbs. "The body is relatively intact though. Best guess… Perhaps a day or two"

"How can she just do that without so much as blinking?" Hina whispered to catatonic, distant Maizono.

I kneeled down next to the detective as she stared at the body in thought, light purple irises darting around sporadically.

"The question remains… Who did this and how?" Kirigiri mused with leathered hands cupping her chin.

"Junko's handiwork. No doubt about it" Said Mukuro as she walked up to us.

I nodded to the Minigun that hung dormant at the gates of the academy.

"And I Suppose that explains the bullet holes" I corroborated.

"Suppose so…" The detective murmured. "How about these claw marks?"

"Monokuma's" Mukuro answered.

Leon let out a nervy chuckle.

"What? That furry dude from the academy? Somehow I doubt it"

"A monokuma outfitted for combat. Imagine the monokuma you met but on steriods" Mukuro said, grimacing slightly.

I turned back to the body and something small caught my eye. A tiny, glistening badge hung from the lapel of the dead man's suit jacket. Kirigiri had apparently noticed it too because she took the badge and held it up to the light.

"Future…" She muttered.

"Huh? What's that mean?" Hiro said while scratching his stubble.

"These guys are Future Foundation…" The soldier whispered.

"And who are these people?" Celes asked.

"One of the main resistance groups. Junko didn't share much information with me. I would do mainly just leg work for her and she would plan and mastermind everything so she never really kept me in the loop, but I vaguely remember her mentioning how the Future Foundation was 'a massive pain in her butt'"

"Looks like they got their arses kicked" Oowada grumbled.

"Yeah, like jeez, they didn't even bring any weapons" Leon said, scratching his chin.

"They were most likely armed. Junko probably got rid of the weapons..." Mukuro turned to the security camera that was pointed towards the group. "Wouldn't want us having an unfair start would you, sis?"

"I-Is this some sort of game to her?!" Fujisaki cried out.

"Yes and no" Mukuro answered in a quiet tone. "Less of that now… We should really get going before Junko loses her patience with us"

"Though it displeases me to agree with the traitor, I do believe that we have outstayed our welcome"

I gave an affirmative nod.

"We can plan what we are going to do tomorrow once we find some sort of shelter"

With that said, I turned on my heels and started walking away from the academy with my classmates in tow. As we strolled away, I looked over my shoulder at the academy. A shining ray of hope in an otherwise destroyed city. I whispered a small apology. To the Hope's peak students that didn't make it, to Kyouko's father and to Junko. I don't know what compelled me to apologize but I felt like it needed to be said. With head held high, I turned back to the long road in front of me and kept on marching.


	2. Chapter 2

It felt good to have the effulgent sun on my back once more as we walked down the avenues of Tokyo. Being cooped up in the academy for so long sure did a number on my soul. It's odd really, how you miss the little things in life when they get ripped away from you. A couple of months into our forced captivity, I started to miss weird little things like the pitter-patter of rain and the feeling of wind rushing through my hair.

I dropped my gaze to look at the cracked pavement beneath my feet. A constant reminder of how quick the world went to shit. It all happened so goddam fast. War, rioting, violence. So many people died, people I knew, for no conceivable reason other than to cause despair. Despair is not something easily combated, especially when it encompasses such a high percentage of the population. Inevitably, the government and the military collapsed. Only the strong-of-will were spared from the all-consuming despair.

We were incredibly lucky to say the least. We managed to lock ourselves inside just after the government's pseudo-capitulation. I can still vividly recall the mad rush to get everyone indoors and safe within the confines of the school.

"Makoto"

Snapped out of my unpleasant reverie, I spun to the origin of the voice.

"Yeah Mukuro?"

"I think it would be smart for us to find a place to stay the night" She said while gesturing to the setting orb in the orange-tinted skies.

I nodded curtly in response. Finding a place to stay isn't as simple as it sounded. With fifteen people, it had to be big enough to fit us all in and it also had to be in reasonable condition. I spied an apartment building down the street. Its bottom half looked in poor condition but the top half looked somewhat decent.

"I think that building's top floor would be our best bet" I told Mukuro with arm outstretched in the direction of the apartment.

After informing the rest of the group about the destination, we walked over to our accommodation for the night. After a good pull, the door gave way and let us inside.

"Hello!?" I voiced loudly, my words rebounding and echoing around the dusty rooms.

We discreetly made our way to the top of the staircase only to be confronted by a wall of furniture.

"Someone, or multiple people, must have been taking refuge up here" Togami mused.

"Seems that way…" Kirigiri agreed.

After removing the blockade from the top of the stairs, I quietly started making my way around the floor. The chance of finding any survivors or supplies were admittedly slim but there was no harm in trying, right? In about ten minutes or so, I had finished my fruitless campaign except one bedroom.

I pushed the door open, expecting a corpse, but finding nothing suspect except a small notebook on a desk near the window. I flipped to journal to the latest entry

" _ **The group have gone again to look for food, and guess who's stuck on guard duty. They have been gone for a while, I'm starting to get a little worried. We will be okay. That's what I keep telling myself but it's getting harder to say it with every passing day. Food and numbers are dwindling; hell I don't even remember the last time I ate. I suppose all I can do is just keep going"**_

The words were written with in a scrawly, disorganised manner like that or a young child's. I checked the start of the journal and compared to two sets of hand writings and the differences were staggering. The earlier handwriting looked like calligraphy in comparison to the later print.

"I hope they made it whoever they were…"

After resting the journal back on the desk, I noticed a small object in the open drawer.

"A lighter…" I muttered.

I fished the item out of the draw and scrutinized its details. It was a small, sliver, metallic rectangle. It had a dove with a laurel branch in its mouth engraved on its side

"The symbol of peace… how ironic…"

I snapped the top open and flicked the mechanism, which then created a small flickering flame. Deciding that it may come in handy later on down the line, I pocketed the lighter and made my way back to one of the living rooms where everyone was waiting.

The room was abuzz with the chatter of my peers, some barely whispering while other basically shouted their conversations. I noticed a certain lavender-haired detective sitting by herself on one of the sofas towards the back of the room. She seemed to be deeply contemplating something, chin rested on a gloved palm and magenta eyes gazing into space.

"Hey there…" I uttered quietly while sitting down next to her.

Seemingly snapped out of her thoughts, she turned her head to face me.

"Hello Naegi"

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked.

"Just getting my head around things. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, so to speak" She replied, while sweeping an errant hair over her ear.

"Yeah… It's a hard thing to come to terms with… Being dropped into a world that's practically ended"

"Quite…" She concurred. "How's the wound…?"

"A little bit sore…" I lied.

One of her eyebrows immediately cocked itself, accompanied by a slightly amused smirk.

"A little bit sore?" She echoed. "You had a spear sticking out of you, Naegi"

"Okay, fine. Maybe very sore. I'll be fine though." I conceded with a bashful grin.

"That's good to hear…" She let a genuine smile manifest itself on her lips as she spoke.

After a minute or so of comfortable silence between the two of us, Ishimaru strided into the middle of the room.

"Okay! Listen up everyone. Its planning time"

"First priority is to the get out of the city. That much is obvious" Celes purred.

"And what about after we get out?" Leon questioned.

Mukuro turned to me, gave me a small nod, and turned back to the crowd.

"Naegi can explain"

Much to my chagrin, all of the attention was centralized on me.

"What is it Naegi?" Maizono cocked her head to the side as she spoke.

I sighed before replying;

"The headmaster wasn't stupid, he knew that there was a possibility that the academy may be compromised and we would have to leave. He even had suspicions that somebody on the inside was an agent of despair but he didn't have anything concrete, turns out his worries were not unfounded"

"That's all well and good but what's the relevance?" Sakura queried.

"We made a contingency plan" I replied. "Long story short, the plan was to get to the Togami headquarters and seek assistance from the Togami family. If that could not be achieved, then we would have to find the next safest place and try to employ a regime of autarky"

"Autarky?" Hina pondered.

"Means self-sufficiency" Kirigiri assisted.

"Surely Junko would know about this plan" Togami voiced in a dissatisfied tone.

"Actually she doesn't" Mukuro informed.

"How so?" Togami growled.

"Makoto was the only one that the headmaster told. He was worried about the previously mentioned agent of despair so he avoided telling everyone"

"That begs the question, why Naegi?" Celes wondered.

I shifted awkwardly in my seat under the interrogative gaze of my fellow classmates.

"Care to explain Naegi?" Kirigiri inquired.

"Well…I… umm" I stuttered, having difficulty to push words out of my throat.

"Spit it out dude" Hiro groaned.

"Basically… The headmaster made me promise that if he was to die, that I would take over…" I conceded awkwardly while rubbing my neck.

This resulted in a couple of raised eyebrows and the odd shocked gasp.

"Why you?" Togami derisively snarled from an armchair.

"The headmaster had several reasons for choosing Makoto" Mukuro stated as I felt my face grow hotter and hotter. "For starters; during our time at school, if anyone was in a rut then it would always be Makoto to cheer them up. Makoto was friends with everyone while the likes of Oowada and Togami had a bit of a feud going on. Lastly, the headmaster wanted someone he could mould to make the type of leader he wanted and Makoto proved to be the most malleable. Probably due to his lack of talent"

14 pairs of eyes bored into me from all sides. Feeling like a prisoner on trial, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"When you say 'mould'…?" Hiro rubbed his chin as he spoke.

"J-Just in case we did have to leave the academy, the headmaster prepared us for the outside world. Basic self-defence classes led by Oogami, basic first aid, among other things. As well as this, myself and the headmaster had one-to-one sessions where he taught me everything he could"

"Wouldn't have Ishimaru been a better fit?" Celes pondered.

I opened my mouth to answer but Mukuro proved quicker;

"In times of panic, Ishimaru has a tendency too… get a bit over emotional"

Ishimaru frowned slightly and furrowed his large eyebrows but didn't seem too torn up at her words.

"I guess we got our man then" Oowada commented while ruffling a large hand in my head, much to my chagrin.

"W-Well if anybody else wants to take over, I'm okay with that" I uttered while looking around the room for a willing party, and just as I expected, Togami stood up proudly.

"Let's put it to a vote" The heir snarled.

"Put your hand up if you vote for Naegi" Leon announced loudly.

To my horror, twelve hands shot up. Myself, Togami and Fukawa were the only kept our hands down.

"Looks like its decided!" Ishimaru clasped his hands together in jubilation.

"W-What!?" Togami exclaimed. "Why did you pick him!"

"I just thought that it would be smart having someone that has retained their memories to lead" Hina conceded.

"If it was the headmasters will, then we should abide by it" Sakura added.

"I'd rather shoot myself then let that posh prick boss me around" Oowada grumbled as he leaned up against a wall.

Togami opened his mouth to shout out an argument but he stopped himself, realising it would be a waste of breath.

With that decided, we organised a lookout system during the night-time. One person would be on lookout for two hours before swapping. There would be four different people per night so there would be eight hours' rest per night.

It had been a long, tiring day and my side burned with constant agony but I still needed a word with someone. She had volunteered to take the first shift as lookout while the rest went to bed and was now sat on a chair near the staircase.

"Mukuro…" I whispered quietly.

"Makoto, you should get your rest" She said with her usual level tone.

"I need to know…Why did you have to tell them? You know I never wanted this. I don't want the responsibility" I groaned wearily.

"Makoto…" She sighed. "I did it because I know you can do it. The headmaster picked you and he would not have if he didn't think you were capable"

"Yeah, well, maybe the headmaster was wrong…" I rebutted "Ishimaru or Kirigiri should've been the one that he picked"

"Trust the headmaster… He was a very smart man. He placed all of his hopes in you when he died and I believe in you too" Mukuro said the words with such an assured, confident tone.

"I don't have much choice now anyways…I can't back out now" I rubbed my eyes tiredly soon after I had finished speaking.

"Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning and we can plan a way out of this hellhole" She got up and started awkwardly pushing me away.

My body acquiesced to her demands and I found the closest comfortable thing, which happened to be a single bed in what looks like a younger boy's room. It kind of reminded of how my own room used to be when I was younger but I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. Thinking about how things used to be would only make me depressed.

After no less than a minute, I gently let myself slip into my own subconscious and let my world fade to black.


	3. Chapter 3

"Naegi…" Called a familiar voice.

"Five more minutes…" I groaned as I flipped myself to the other side of the bed and partially covered my head with the covers of the bed.

Footsteps made their way to the other side of the room, only to be followed by the noise of curtains being pulled apart.

"Naegi, Ikusaba told me to get you up" The voice persisted.

Now that my brain had partially woken up, I could recognize the voice as Kirigiri.

"Do I have to?" I moaned as I tried to bury my head deeper into the pillow which was way too comfy for its own good.

"I'm not going to drag you" The detective said as she made her way to the door.

"Fine…" I huffed as I kicked the covers off of me. "Give me a second"

I sat up in bed and cleared the bleariness from my eyes with a short rub. I looked to my right, only to be blinded by the light of the emerging sun. By the height of the burning sphere, I could tell that it was still pretty early. To my left, Kirigiri was leaning up against the door's frame. Waiting for me with a small amused smile.

"Not the morning type I see" She observed.

"Yeah, not really my strong suit" I conceded. "That's more of Oogami's, Hina's and Mukuro's thing"

"Ikusaba because of her mercenary background and I'm guessing Oogami and Hina had a morning workout regime, correct?" The young detective deduced.

"Yeah, Hina would always wake me up to bring me along to their sessions"

I smiled at the memory of being dragged out of bed by the swimmer at the early hours of the morning. Rain, sleet or snow they would run around the school track until it was time for breakfast.

"I never took you for the workout type" Kirigiri mused.

"I'm not" I replied. "It all started around the beginning of our first year at school. I got ill within the first month or something. Hina said that I should improve my immune system and come running with them and I stupidly agreed, mainly because it didn't want to disappoint her and it was early in the year so I wanted to make friends. She would come by my room every morning and practically break my door down. At first, I hated every second of it. However, I guess her energy and enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I started to actually enjoy them"

"I see" The detective responded after my ramble.

"So why are you awake?" I asked as I swung my feet out of bed.

"I was on lookout when Mukuro woke up about fifteen minutes or so ago. She told me to come wake you up before anyone else"

"Ah, Mukuro probably wants to talk to me before we talk to the rest of the group" I muttered as I slipped my shoes on.

The room went quiet as I picked myself up, grabbed my hoodie from the bottom of the bed and slipped it over my shoulders. However, I decided not to grab the blazer that was a part of the uniform at my middle school. It was pretty warm yesterday and wearing it would only serve to remind me of memories of old friends, besides, it felt weird having it when I wasn't even at school anymore.

"Let's get going then" I said as I walked past the detective while zipping my hoodie.

The purple-haired girl followed and strolled along side me.

"So where's Mukuro then?" I whispered as we made our way down the hall, careful not to wake up any of our slumbering class mates.

"In the same living room we were in last night" She said in her own quiet tone.

After a moment of silence, the girl spoke up again;

"Can I ask you something Naegi?"

"Yeah, go ahead" I encouraged.

"You call everyone by their surname except Ikusaba, who you call Mukuro. Why is that?" She inquired "Are you two…"

"Ah, no, nothing like that" I interrupted quickly while shaking my head quickly.

"So why then?"

"Truth be told, we all used to refer to each other by our first names with some exceptions like Togami who insisted that we used his family's name" I explained. "I just didn't want to weird people out by suddenly throwing around people's first name"

"So we were pretty close then" She concluded.

"Yeah, like a big family in a way" I added while pushing a door open.

"Like a big family" She echoed

"If you want, you can call me Makoto. It feels kinda weird you calling me Naegi after everything at the academy. Only if you're comfortable, that is" I quickly tacked on the last bit while awkwardly rubbing my neck.

"….I'll think about it" She said quietly after a short pause.

I stole a glance at the girl walking beside me. She was looking forward, but I could see a smile tugging at her lips.

I opened the door to the apartment that the soldier was apparently waiting for us in.

"Mukuro?" I called out in the dark.

"Good morning Makoto" The Monotone voice of the mercenary greeted. The noise came from beside me, nearly scaring me straight out of my skin.

"You scared me" I said after a deep breath.

"Sorry" She apologized as she opened the curtains, letting light pour from windows.

"So did you want to speak?" I collapsed on the sofa and put my feet up on to the table. Usually I wouldn't do such a thing in someone else's house, but it wasn't like they was anyone here to berate me for doing so.

"Yes, I wanted to speak with you about the destination. Also, it would be uncouth for the leader to be the last to wake up"

"What about our destination?" I inquired.

"The Togami family… Their all dead"

"Wha-What?!" I nearly screamed.

"Junko had them executed and their facilities destroyed" The soldier's tone took a remorseful edge as she spoke.

"C-crap" I ran hand through my hair, trying to remain calm. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Unfortunately, I don't know about anyone else's families. I only know of their fate because I walked in on Junko giving commands to her underlings" She reaffirmed. "I'm sorry I can't give you any more information, but as I said, Junko did not about things that I was not directly involved in"

"Neither of you can tell Togami. Ill break it to him, just not yet" I sighed.

"We are going to need a different destination then" Kirigiri walked over and sat down in one of the few armchairs.

"Yeah…I don't know any of the top of my head but we still need to get out of the city, so for now the plan doesn't change" I agreed.

"Agreed then" Mukuro reinforced. "I'll go get everyone up then"

Ten minutes later or so, everyone had gathered in the living room.

"So what's the plan?" Leon furiously rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he spoke sleepily.

"Well we need to find a map" I announced

"Why do we need a map? Can't we just take the first highway out?" Maizono pondered while pulling a finger to inquisitively sit on her lip.

"A couple of problems with that" Mukuro said. "One, a lot of the highways are broken because of the fighting. Some may still be fine but it'll be trial and error"

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy" Oowada grumbled while reclining back in his chair.

"Secondly, there may still be poisonous gas in the atmosphere"

"P-p-poisonous gas?!" Hiro shrieked.

"A lot of the air became tainted after the wars. The academy has an air purifier which meant we would suffocate"

"Why aren't we dead then?" The Shaman itched his head in a dumbfounded matter.

"Junko cleaned a lot of it up, can't raise an army full of rioters and monokuma's if nobody can breathe" Mukuro explained. "However, there might be some pockets that may still be toxic"

"Basically then, we only have half of a plan?" Togami complained.

"Basically" I admitted.

"I do not know what else I was expecting" Togami rubbed his temples as he sighed heavily.

I clasped my hands together and stood up in front of my friends.

"I suppose that's that then. Let's go and get out of this nightmare of a city"

 _ **A/N: Well hellooooo there, look at that, I remembered to do author notes on . So hey there… ughhh yeah… This is an If continuation that will span the whole franchise so far. That's all you need to know I guess for now**_

 _ **Also if got any AO3 account under the same name and that has another story that I won't be putting on this site so if you want to read it, go on there. Lastly my laptop broke so don't expect a chapter on this for a while. I had to finish this on my family's pc which I can't go on all the time so yeah just giving you a warning. I may get tumblr so I can keep you guys informed and shit, anyways please review and arrivederci**_


	4. Chapter 4

I peered around the corner of the street to see what awaited us on the road ahead. To my surprise, the scene before me was a complete ghost-town. Sure we had been travelling for a good twenty minutes now without seeing anything out of the ordinary, but this was the first main road we'd come across so if we were going to find trouble this would be the place. After giving the street one final sweep, I stepped away from the corner and strode back down the street I came from. At the end of said street was the group; some sitting down and taking the chance to relax, while some were discussing the plans. Upon seeing me, Mukuro broke away from the group.

"See anything?"

"Nothing, just some abandoned cars and wrecked houses" I replied

"That's strange…" Mukuro murmured as she walked by my side.

I hummed in agreement as everyone prepared themselves to continue on.

"So, Naegi, where are we headed exactly?" Leon asked as he stretched his arms out.

"Tokyo tower" I said while pointing to the building which peaked behind rows of buildings on the horizon.

"Why there?"

"It's the closest landmark and where's there's landmarks, there's tourist areas" Mukuro explained.

"And that's where you hope to find a map, correct?" Togami questioned with his usual apathetic tone and cocked eyebrow.

Mukuro simply nodded in response.

Togami huffed in response but did not say a word before setting off.

"Let's get going then…." I muttered under my breath while trying to catch up with the Heirs long strides.

XxX

Our group meandered down the desolate street with Togami and Mukuro on point while the rest of us lagged behind by a few paces. Out of the periphery of my eye, I saw a certain detective make a beeline for an alleyway to my left.

"Kirigiri? You see something?" I called out.

"Come see for yourself"

I would be lying if this didn't immediately pique my curiosity. If Kirigiri had deemed it interesting enough to investigate further, then it was probably something important. While turning the corner of the alley, I saw what had gotten the detectives attention. Slumped against the wall, three bodies with hoods over their heads and wrists bound lay dead. Utterly repulsed by the scene, I quickly dropped my gaze to the floor and shot out an arm to support myself.

"A rather grizzly scene…" Kirigiri muttered quietly.

"Y-Yeah…" I stammered, trying my best not to throw up from the awful smell.

Kirigiri repositioned one of the bodies to get a better look. The cause of death was easy to solve. The face of the straw hood had a large hole punched through it with dried blood splattered around it and on the floor below the body. Bullet cases lay dormant next to the cadavers, one for each body.

"J-Jeez…" I breathed, trying to settle rattled nerves.

Unperturbed by my reaction, the girl scrutinised the body of what appeared to be a woman.

"Textbook execution…" The detective mused "Whomever did this is one vile human being, that's for sure"

Kirigiri then proceeded to frisk the body up and down.

"Oh…"

"Huh? S-Something wrong?" I asked, trying desperately not to let worry perforate my voice.

Kirigiri's hand dove down to the pocket of the cadaver and returned with a black rectangular shaped object with silver trimmings. The item wasn't too large or too small, in fact it was the perfect size to fit into Kirigiri's gloved palm. With further investigation, the girl noticed a switch on the side of box and pushed it inquisitively. A wicked sharp blade sprung out in a flash, much to my surprise.

"A switchblade…In the confusion, they must not have been able to get it out and release themselves" The girl deduced before handing the knife to me. "You will probably have more use for it then me"

"Urmm… Y-You sure about that?" I wondered as I held the object awkwardly.

"No, but I don't want it"

"A-Ah, I see. Well then, can we go?" I muttered awkwardly, still keeping my eyes averted from the ghastly scene.

"Yes, I don't believe we gain anything from staying. While I have you here, how are you doing with the walking?"

"Urm fine I think…" I answered.

"Don't push your limits, if you need a break then just tell us. If you overextend your boundaries, you're only going to make your injury worse" she said as she stood back up and straightened herself out.

"Okay…I promise I won't"

"Good" She affirmed

Just as she said this, Ishimaru popped his head around the corner.

"Are you two rea- "

Ishimaru's voice stopped abruptly when he saw the carnage in the alley. The short pause was followed by a short scream that bubbled from the mouth of the moral compass.

"Yes, I believe we are" Kirigiri said as she walked on past the petrified Ishimaru.

"H-Hu-Huh?" Ishimaru wheezed as she passed by.

I patted his shoulder soothingly in an effort to get him to stop gawking at the awful scene.

"C'mon Ishimaru…"

XxX

After perhaps another hour of making our way through barren streets, we made it to the tower. It didn't take us long to find a map of Tokyo and the surrounding areas in one of the hotels which sat in the shadow of the grand tower.

"Alright, let's find our way out of this shithole" Mondo grunted as he spread the map across the bonnet of a nearby car.

"So, we're here"

Mukuro pointed to the tower on the map

"And we are going to want to take the quickest route outta this clusterfuck of a city, right?" Leon asserted.

"That may be so, but if we still plan to find refuge at the Togami HQ in Kyoto then it may be wise to find a route that heads west as opposed to north or east" Togami suggested.

"Right… Oh! This road through Hachioji looks like the best bet" Maizono chimed in while tracing the route highlighted in blue with her finger.

"We may get a good view of Mt. Fuji too! Oooh, can we climb it?" Hina grabbed Oogami's arm and gave it a slight tug as she pointed to the mountain on the map. "Pretty please?"

Oogami looked down at her companion with a small but warm smile before.

"One day we will, however now is not the time"

Hina pouted ever so slightly and muttered. "I'm going to hold you too that…"

Togami quickly snapped his fingers at the two, to get their attention. "Attention front and centre please"

Asahina didn't take to kindly to the Heir's behaviour. She opened her mouth to respond and she would've if it wasn't for the calm hand of Oogami that pulled her back ever so slightly.

"Anyways, to walk all the way to Kyoto…That would be a massive undertaking" Celes observed while holding her chin with her talon and scanning the route to our destination.

"Yes, truly, a journey that most hero's would shy away from!" Hifumi concurred.

"Who said we'd have to walk it?" Mukuro commented. "By foot it could take weeks but by car it would be a matter of days, if that"

Togami snorted in amusement, as if laughing at the Soldier's idea.

"While travelling by car would be ideal, we would need at least three cars to fit us all and we would need them to be in adequate condition"

"W-Which is going to be impossible in this place…" Fukawa pointed to the cracked pavement and trashed house to make her point. "It's completely wrecked"

"Furthermore, we want to get out of here as soon as possible rather than stick around any longer" Kirigiri affirmed.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be anywhere near here when Junko sends out those bastard bears to kill us…" Leon sighed.

"Speaking of which" Hagakure looked around as he spoke. "We haven't come across any trouble yet…"

"Your point being?" Ishimaru asked.

"Well… That's weird right… Like its giving me the creeps you know…"

"Junko probably wants to give us a head start, make the chase more enjoyable" Celes theorized. "A proverbial game of cat and mouse"

"That's horrible!" Fujisaki whimpered. "Who can think like that!?"

"There's no point in trying to comprehend Junko, she only exists to spread despair..." I said with a heavy tone.

"Back to the topic at hand, I reckon we could find some cars in a town on the way to Kyoto and we can just siphon petrol as we go along" Mukuro said as she folded up the map. "We can get Oowada to hotwire if needed"

"Oh of course the gang leader knows how to hotwire because he's just a criminal, right?" Oowada growled.

"So you're saying you can't hotwire?" The soldier rebutted.

"Tha-…That's not the point!"

Oowada grumbled and huffed more as he walked off in the wrong direction.

"This way you fucking jackass!" Leon shouted after him.

He immediately regretted this when the Biker spun around to face the All-star. Mondo looked so enraged that I thought his eyes were going to start shooting lasers and setting fire to the surroundings. A forehead vein started poking out aggressively as he cracked his knuckles and approached Leon. Leon started backing up very quickly with hands stretched out.

"L-L-Look i-I'm sorry dude!" The All-star screeched.

This did not stop the rapid advance of the Biker. I could practically feel an aura of death and anger surround him as he strode past me. While trying to escape, Leon tripped and landed arse first on the ground.

"P-Puh-Please! Not the face!" Leon screamed as he closed his eyes, preparing for pain.

The aggressor reeled up a leg to kick Leon at full strength and pace… Only to put his foot down and walk on past him.

"You shat yourself you absolute pussy!" Oowada guffawed as he marched in the opposite, and correct, direction.

"They're both…complete idiots…" Maizono said with a completely puzzled expression.

Kirigiri appeared next to me and gave me a slight nudge.

"You have definitely got your work cut out for you…" She quipped with a slight smile.

"That I do Kirigiri. That I do"

XxX

"So, when are you going to break the news to Togami" Mukuro inquired.

Myself, Kirigiri and the Soldier had separated ourselves slightly from the rest of the group, letting Oowada and Ishimaru lead and follow the marked our route.

After a momentary pause, I turned my gaze away to the floor and to the soldier,

"I don't think I'm going too. The way I see it is that we might as well go in that direction anyways, perhaps find a boat and go to one of the islands. Perhaps cross into Shikoku or Kyushu. Besides, I think it would be best if he sees for himself rather than me telling him"

"Fair enough, let's hope he doesn't find out before then"

"Naegi, we should find some supplies before we find a place to stop for the night" Kirigiri uttered.

"Way ahead of you, I saw a sign for a shopping complex that should only be a couple of blocks away"

Just as the sign had said, there was a sprawling mass of shops all lined up in rows in the style of a plaza. We gathered around the entrance and looked upon the scene in front of us. As with a lot of the scenery we had seen recently, the complex looked like it had seen better days. Smashed glass, cracked pavement, destroyed property and a couple of sprawled corpses that we were all giving a wide berth. I made my way to the front of the pack and stood up unto one of the steps to the mall.

"Okay people. Look everywhere you can for food, water, medical supplies, equipment and anything else you're going to need like a toothbrush or toilet paper. Get a backpack and fill it up with what you can get but make sure that everyone gets a fair share, we may have to ration if we can't find much. Lastly, get a change of clothes. Make sure what you're wearing comfortable so you can walk in it and get a waterproof jacket just in case it rains. No high heels, looking at you Celes. Alright, nobody go off alone and we'll regroup here in about half an hour"

With that, everyone spread out to sort themselves out, some in groups and some by themselves. Satisfied that everyone was going to be fine, I headed upstairs to one of the many clothes stores. Like a lot of the other stores, it was in pretty bad condition. However, they weren't as bad as some of the others. After settling on some clothes, I dashed into a changing room. A simple V-necked white t-shirt with a blue and white chequered shirt over it, a pair of ordinary but rugged jeans with a black belt wrapped around it and of course a new pair of boxers. I also replaced my sneakers with a comfortable pair of sand coloured boots with a tough sole. Before leaving I grabbed a watch that was still ticking, a deep brown strap and a black face, and forest green backpack with golden buckles that I could stuff a coat inside.

I made my back down to the ground floor and noticed a couple of the group surrounded around one shop in particular. It was a small convenience store that was completely stripped clean of anything and everything. However, that wasn't what everyone was looking at. At the back was a door that Mondo was profusely kicking and pushing at with Hagakure and Hifumi acting as spectators.

"What's happening?" I called out the group.

"Tryin to get into the store room. Obviously" Oowada grunted as he kicked the door again.

"Which has thus far proved to be a fruitless endeavour" Hifumi declared in a rather grandiose tone.

"Perhaps looking for a key would be better idea"

Kirigiri stepped into the store and approached the door.

"And you think we haven't looked for that?" Hagakure whined.

"Probably not hard enough" The Detective chided

Kirigiri approached one of the cash machines and traced the edges. She then knelt down and started trailing a hand over one of the shelves under the cash machines.

"Just as I thought" Kirigiri concluded as she produced a key that had apparently been taped to the bottom of a shelf.

The girl slipped the key into the lock and opened the door up.

"Well done Kirigiri!" I congratulated as I joined her in the store room.

"Yeah nice find!" Hagakure agreed with a thumbs up.

Unfortunately, the store room held a lot less food and water then we hoped. Between fifteen people, the amount we had amounted would only keep us fed for a couple of days provided we rationed correctly, if that. The owner or manager must have grabbed what he could before bailing on this place. That being said, finding some food was better than finding no food at all. After we divvyed up all the food and water, we gathered back at the entrance.

"We should find a place to stay the night soon, it's getting late" Mukuro nudged.

"Yeah let's get some rest…" I looked at the gorgeous orange skies that hung over us. Then, I looked unto the horizon where the glowing sun was slowly sinking away. "And tomorrow we get out of Tokyo…"

 **A/N Okay people i have returned from death to give you the next instalment of FTCOD. Tests have kind of been killing me. I got really bad marks in my mocks but then i revised my arse off and got A's in my re-dos so thats here ive been this entire time.**

 **Unfortunately, i may have to put myself on semi hiatus because i have the real thing coming up in may so i need to concentrate. Im really sorry about this but it must be done. Hopefully ill be able to upload alot more in the summer and you may get a new chapter if find sometime between school, work, gym and football but dont be surprised if i dont update anytime soon. I have no plans to completely end this either and your continued support gives me the motivation so please dont bail on me or any of my two stories (only one on )**

 **P.s This chapter is really rough- i know but it's this or nothing Arrivederci my loyal readers! You're all amazing, review, kudos, follow all that shit and ill see you next time**


	5. Chapter 5

"Aah- Jesus effin Christ…!"

My wound seared with pain as strong vodka trickled over it, causing me to grind my teeth too relieve some pain but it had little to no effect as suppressed groans filled the room. I was, for lack of better worlds, in excruciating agony as the strong liquid passed over my injury.

"You need to take better care of yourself" Mukuro chided as if she was some kind of professional or my mother.

I grumbled slightly under my breath as she took a cloth to the injury.

"Well do you want to get an infection?" She said with a raised eyebrow as she set down the bottle of Vodka and the cloth.

"No" I mumbled quietly.

"Hey don't get moody with me" The soldier gave me a slight poke on my arm

"I'm not the one that got shish-kebab'd like an idiot trying to be my knight in shining armour"

"Fine then, next time I won't save you" I retorted sarcastically as I poked her back before a short laugh.

"That reminds me, I never said thank you for saving me…too your face that is" she muttered awkwardly while playing with the edge of her cargo shorts.

"I'd do it again…" I said as rested a hand on her shoulder. This caused her to look back up and our eyes to meet rather awkwardly and clumsily. "Besides, I would've bled out of it wasn't for you. So I guess we're even?"

The soldier brung up her right hand and placed it on top of mine. I could feel heat burn at my cheeks as I gave her hand a gentle squeeze before placing it back down at my side. She, on the other hand, was blushing pretty vigorously. Despite that, she held my gaze and nodded, albeit a little cautiously.

"E-Even…"

I nodded in response, trying to ignore the rising inferno that rushed from my cheeks.

"A-Anyways" She announced, regaining her composure. "This is the only bandage we found so you may have to make do for a while"

"I'll try" I responded.

"I know I don't have to tell you this but don't over-exert yourself and don't go swimming in anything unpleasant" she said while applying the bandage.

"Thanks mum, can I go play with my friends now?" I quipped sarcastically as I put my shirt back on. This was then followed by another quick jab to my arm.

"Shut up Makoto" she responded with a light smile after a short and airy laugh.

"Well let's get going then" I said as grabbed my bag and walked toward the door.

"Yes, let's"

 **XxX**

"Yo, Naegi, can I ask you something"

"What do you need Kuwata?" I replied as Leon jogged next to me.

"Well, when I entered the academy, I was 17. So am I 19 now? Cos we lost two years, right?"

I paused for a second, giving the question some thought.

"I think so? Hey Mukuro! What's the date?" I called over my shoulder.

"Not sure what it is exactly, it's about mid-may" she answered.

"So yeah I guess we're all 18/19 depending on your birthday. In short, yeah urm… happy late birthday?"

"Jesus…" He mumbled as he realised how very serious the brain washing was. Two years, completely removed from our memories. He ran a ringed hand through his locks of red hair before pointing his gaze at the floor.

"I know dude…" I breathed tiredly.

"Wait, wait, wait. How old am I then?!" Hagakure screamed with shocked realisation.

"Ancient" Oowada laughed which, in turn, elicited grins and giggles from the whole group.

"O-Oh by the way, feel free to call me Makoto. If you feel comfortable with it that is" I said as I placed a sensitive palm on his shoulder.

The redhead looked back up and turned his gaze to me. I nodded at him slightly as I removed my hand from his shoulder. For a second, the boy looked slightly unsure. However, his old confident, arrogant smirk returned as did the mischievous twinkle his eyes usually held. Leon then flung his arm over my own shoulders and put me in a headlock.

"Makoto it is then. It's only fair if you call me Leon in return though" He exclaimed while thoroughly noogie-ing my poor scalp.

"Ahh J-Jeez fine just p-please stop" I shouted back while forcing my way out of his hold.

After I had freed myself, The Ultimate All-star brung me in close again to whisper in my ear.

"So, Makoto, it seems as though we have some celebrating to make up for. We missed two birthdays right?"

"Well we didn't exactly miss them, I still remember them" I responded in my own hushed tone.

"I don't though so I need to make up for it. Ikusaba has some of that Vodka in her bag right?" He asked while nudging me in the abdomen.

"We aren't getting pissed Leon, I don't think either of us want the hangover. Plus, it's for medical use" I hissed back, punctuated with my own nudge.

"Oh come dude, it wouldn't just be us two. We could get some of the girl's, I call dibs on Maizono!" He explained, arm outstretched as if he was trying to present the very concept before my eyes "Just not Ishimaru or Togami. They'd kill the vibe so fast"

"No means no Leon, we need to concentrate" I ordered, authority dripping from my usually less than authoritative tone.

"Wow, Killjoy…" Leon pouted with disappointment shadowing his features.

"Look, once we find a place we can settle down and then we will celebrate"

"Promise me?"

Leon put out his closed fist, awaiting reciprocation.

"Promise!"

I knocked my own closed fist against his as he relinquished his grasp of my neck and shoulders, only to scruff up my hair.

"Already looking forward to it little dude"

Our conversation was interrupted by the sight of the bridge peaking on the not-so-distant horizon. It wasn't a very grand affair; just a simple, small bridge. Before stepping over the threshold, I took one last look around my surroundings. Sure you could call it paranoia, but considering the situation I think that a little dose of paranoia may be needed in order to keep people safe. Everyone was already making their way to the other side, on the other hand, I was still standing at the very beginning facing away from the exit. I scanned the rooftops and the streets below, vigilant for potential threats that could be following us. I wouldn't put it past Junko to send someone, or something, to tail us. Alas, the only thing that I had to keep me company was a gentle breeze that felt quite glorious on my skin.

"Makoto! C, mon dude!"

Leon, halfway across the bridge already, made a waving motion to hurry up.

"Yeah I'm coming!"

Taking one last look, I turned my back and jogged up the bridge to catch up with my friends. Perhaps I am being a little too cautious, but I can hardly be blamed for being worried. It's then I noticed something odd. Everyone else had screeched to a halt at the very end of the bridge.

" _Just as I thought it would be plain sailing from now on"_

I increased my speed to a run, much to the delight of my wound which screamed in agony with every step. After I caught up, I pushed past Aoi and Sakura to see what all the fuss was about.

In the middle of the street, a single monitor sat on top of a stool. Conspicuous didn't even begin to describe it. This was obviously Junko's doing but why exactly? I instinctively started to survey the area, on alert for any threats. I could sense the likes of Mukuro and Togami doing the same as I approached the laptop with carefully placed steps.

"AHEM"

I was stopped in my tracks by a familiar shrill voice. Everyone swivelled around to meet the noise, including myself. Standing there, a couple of paces away, was a single monokuma.

The small animatronic sashayed its way down the street with an unnerving amount of

confidence and swagger. In fact, the bear strutted straight past myself and everyone else

without as much as a lift of a finger. I think we were all stunned, more than anything.

Shaking off the initial shock, I quickly dived my hand into my pocket to get a grip onto the

knife. Sure it wouldn't do much against the metal shell of the bear, but it was definitely

better than using my fist. If it was a person, I would try to talk to them but I know

from experience that Monokuma's couldn't be negotiated with.

However, I kept my closed fist in my pocket. If the bear was hostile he would've jumped on

Me the first chance he got. The bear waddled over to the monitor, his feet making a familiar

plodding sound. He turned the laptop on and slide CD into the slot. We all just stood there. Dumbfounded. A small popup appeared with a spinning wheel and the words 'loading', in large letters. Then, after the wheel had stopped its revolutions, _she_ appeared. Who else could I expect it to be?

"Helloooooo~ my gorgeous classmates" The high pitched voice squeaked.

The scene was exactly what you would expect from a mastermind's lair. Monitors showing camera feeds from all over Tokyo, dim lighting and a rather deep sense of dread. The girl in question, was sitting sweetly in her chair with her arms tightly wrapped around a plushie version of the mascot.

"Hello Junko…" Mukuro replied in a quite tone, eyebrows furrowing.

"It's a video you fucking idiot" The small mono-tone bear said while shaking its head in mock disapproval.

Before the soldier could respond, the video continued.

"So are you guys enjoying your liberty? The feeling of fresh air rushing through your lungs? It's great isn't it? Anyways I just wanted to inform you that from tomorrow morning onward, you are _all_ officially free game!"

My fists instinctively clenched in frustration and anger in immediate response to the words of the fashionista.

"That's right my lovelies! From here on in, Japan is officially my hunting grounds and you are officially my prey! Best of all! There will be specialized Mono-cameramen on the scene to televise your horrific deaths nationwide! Of course I won't be using anything like a homing device, that would be boring and unfair, so you don't have to worry about this being an unfair fight and why would I deny us the thrill of the chase! Oh my god I'm sooooo~ excited already"

The girl then exploded into a fit of rampaging giggles so shrill that it made me instantaneously wince in pain. Her high pitched squeals of delight filled the streets as we stood there, gawping at the monitor. As fast as a flick of a switch, her laughter ceased and her demeanour switched up.

"I don't want to have to kill you but you are the ones who choose freedom over the safe confines of the school…" She spoke in a melancholy tone.

Leon tapped me on my shoulder in the slyest of manners.

"What is wrong with this bitch? Is she schizophrenic or something?"

"That and a whole laundry list of other things" I whispered back.

Meanwhile, the young blonde was gently weeping into the microphone.

"I d-do love you g-guys, you're my high school classmates y'know…." She trailed off, choking back sobs. "That's why I've left you a small present for all of you…"

The Monokuma that had pressed the play button, and up till now had been standing idly by the monitor, had begun to waddle over the bridge at pace.

Instincts kicked in as I scanned our surroundings, looking for threats.

" _3…"_

Junko's voice had taken a cool and calculated approach, a far cry from the sobbing mess she was only a couple seconds prior. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a bear, or any other type of enemy for that matter, in sight.

" _2…"_

Some of the group had started to panic now, looking around frantically for whatever this 'present' was. That's when it clicked, the reality of said 'present'. I could see that some had realised too by the quick change in expression.

"EVERYONE! GET AWAY FRO-…"

" _1…"_

 **XxX**

A devilish smile crept unto the lips of the mastermind as she watched the carnage ensue from the safety of her control room. Sure things hadn't gone to plan but she may just be able to salvage this mess and create the bone chilling despair she was looking for.

"Urmm your excellency?"

Typical. Every time she was in a half decent mood, someone would come round to piss on her proverbial porch.

"What Teruteru?" She groaned as she took a mental note to stop giving keys to her control room out to idiots and her underlings.

"A-Are you sure about this? We could've just knocked them out and re-wipe their memories" He spoke while awkwardly playing with his hands.

The girl slowly spun herself around to face the chubby chef, who cowered away at her cold glare.

"Teruteru. What are we trying to achieve?"

A simple question. Therefore there should be a simple answer but who knows, when you are surrounded by morons 24/7 then your expectations tend to drop.

"Spread despair?" He questioned, somewhat internally as if the simplicity of the question had confused him.

"Congratulations" She responded dryly. "Now what is the complete opposite of despair?"

The Chef's eyes squinted, seemingly asking himself whether this was a trick question or not. Considering it was Junko, he wouldn't put it past her.

"Hope…"

"Correct. Now tell me how we can deepen the despair of an individual by using hope?"

"H-Huh…?"

"You dangle hope right in front of their fucking noses and then rip it away from them when they get close without any fucking mercy!" Junko shrieked, persona changing for the umpteenth time that hour.

Teruteru, looked ready to skedaddle out of there then rather deal with the younger woman. However, that would probably make things worse for him in this situation.

"So-o, is that t-the only reason?"

"Well no" Junko sighed "We don't know how they would fair with having their brains fucked over again, especially Kirigiri considering how extensively we washed her. Also everyone outside saw them escape, this way we can make it look like we wanted this to happen"

"Ah, very smart" Teruteru nodded.

"Exactly why im in charge. Speaking of being in charge, get me a cherry cola. I've got some scheming to do"

A/N

oh shit waddup

well i did say i was going on hiatus but im back now and my exams are over so hopefully we can have some actual consistency but you never know with me.

anyways please leave a kudos and a comment or whatever because i literally stayed up all night writing this for you guys, hence why it slowly gets more shit

(btw it does say Leon is 17 so im juts going with it tbh)


	6. Chapter 6

At first I felt completely weightless. Turns out being thrown into the air is a pretty strange sensation. That feeling quickly passed when I felt myself crash to the concrete shoulder first. After skidding across the pavement for a good couple of metres, I came to an abrupt halt after colliding with a traffic light. I didn't have much time to contemplate the irony as I was showered with dust and parts of pavement. I can't believe I didn't realise earlier; I should've clocked what was happening when that bastard bear was high-tailing it across the bridge. In short, the bridge blew up and we weren't exactly far away from it.

I spluttered and coughed as dust bombarded my lungs. I sat there, completely still for god-knows-how-long, unable to struggle to my feet due to a large piece of rubble being that was pinning me to the concrete. Then a small thought popped into my barely functioning mind, which inspired me to struggle to my feet. I needed to check up on everyone. I would prefer to just lay there and rest my eyes, perhaps for the rest of eternity, but I know I can't just be a bystander. That, and the fact that I had a rather pertinent want to get as far away from Tokyo as possible. My body felt completely shot, my left shoulder and stomach wound in particular were screaming in agony. However, the worst thing by a mile was the incessant ringing in my ears as if a flash grenade had gone off right next to me. Placing both hands on the piece of rubble, I pushed it off of me with a heavy groan. During this, my weak shoulder wobbled and shuddered due to the immense pain and weight. Now that I was free, I sat there on all fours and I started feeling rather sorry for myself while retching up more dust and dirt. After clearing my system, I took some deep breathes. I took a look around my surroundings. A light smog coated the landscape almost like natural mist, but this was different. It was far darker than any other fog id seen in my time, less natural, more artificial. Then again, my vision was pretty hazy and the double vision wasn't exactly helping so who knew what it looked like in reality. I struggled to my feet, cautious not to step up to quickly just to drop again. When I stood up, I immediately started to sway and feel disorientated. I keeled over and choked out my lungs for a bit longer. While on my hands and knees, I tried to see if I could spy one of my classmates now that the mist had died down and low and behold, I noticed a figure a couple metres in front of me. Struggling to my feet once more, I meandered over to the still body. I feared the worst, as you naturally would, but I was relieved to hear a slight groaning.

"Hiro!?" I spluttered, able to decipher the mystery of who it was when I saw the bombastic hairstyle that was synonymous with the shaman.

In response all I got was a disgruntled moan.

"C'mon Hiro, get up"

"Naegs…?"

I tried to pull him up by his arms but he really wasn't helping me. He was still completely limp, meaning I had to pull him to his knees, and then to his feet without any help. When I finally got him to his feet, I started to rock again, still feeling rather dizzy from my flight down the street. Hiro wasn't exactly stable either. I chucked his arm around my neck and dragged him away from the explosion, keeping my eye out for any more of our friends.

"Why the hell are you so heavy?" I grimaced as I struggled under the weight of keeping the shaman propped up on my shoulder.

"It's all my hair…" Hiro responded with a raspy voice after a small chuckle.

I let a laugh escape from my lips too, though it caused me too cough again. It was good to see he was staying positive.

I continued down the road till I could see a small gathering of people, no more than three people. Torn clothes, cuts and bruises were the present theme apparently. Dirt covered pale faces looked up when they noticed myself and Hagakure limp towards them

"Makoto!"

Ikusaba ran up to me, sliding her arms around Hiro to support him and taking the burden from me.

"Hey" I greeted wearily, thankful I didn't have to drag Hiro any longer. "Where is everyone?"

"Just round the corner Makoto, go around and they'll just be down the road. I'll take Hiro there now"

Once she said this, she hobbled off down the road with the Clairvoyant leaning on her heavily.

"How ya doin?" Inquired Oowada. His clothes were looking pretty torn up, his crazy diamond jacket which he refused to leave behind looked particularly tattered. He had a large gash just above his right eye that was ever so slowly seeping blood the shade of a deep crimson.

"I think im good…" I put my hands on my knees and took in some deep breaths. "You alright?"

"Just a scratch, I'll be fine"

"It may get infected thought, we should get it looked at soon"

"We can get it looked at later. I believe there is more pressing matters at hand" Said Celes. She seemed to be looking better than most considering her clothing had only had minimal damage, but she still looked rather shaken up.

"What's happened?"

"Well firstly, we can't find Fukawa and secondly…"

An ice cold shiver ran down my spine when the Gambler trailed off.

"What…?"

"Ishimaru… He's hurt pretty bad, got a busted leg" Oowada growled, somewhere between solemn and enraged.

"Is he okay?" I questioned, trying not to let anxiety get the best of me.

"Hina is looking after him but we don't know"

"Alright then, I'll go help out. You guys go looking for Fukawa, come find me when you find her"

I began to feel a horrible nauseousness inside as my tired legs carried me lazily around the corner. The first person I saw when I spun around the corner was Kyoko. She was standing outside a house half way down the street, probably standing guard. I made my way down the street, my pace quickening even though it only gave me more discomfort. She stared aimlessly at the horizon, eyes completely glazed over. There was none of the famed Kirigiri quiet concentration. One thing was for sure, she was definitely not fully compos-mentis.

"Kirigiri…?"

The detective jumped slightly in surprise before tearing her gaze away from the sky to look at me. Even now, she seemed somewhat distant. She was looking at me but it felt like she was looking past me all at the same time.

"Makoto…" She said with a stilted nod of acknowledgement.

"You okay?" I said cautiously.

"I came out here too get some fresh air, I've got a bit of migraine…"

"You're going to be okay?" A little bit of concern breaking into my tone.

Kirigiri flashed one of her trademark smirks.

"Your concern is flattering but I'll be fine Makoto, thank you. You should go inside, Mukuro will want to talk"

I nodded before stepping in the house. It was dusty with the same scenery of torn wall paper and broken windows, akin to the buildings we had stayed in the nights previously. That being said, this one did seem homelier I suppose.

"Mukuro!?" I shouted into the house.

"In here!" I heard the soldier shout back from one of the rooms.

I paced my way down the hallway until I saw the open door that I thought Mukuro's voice had come from a minute ago. In the room, Ishimaru was lying down on a sofa with his leg propped up on a cushion. Leon, Mukuro and Hina were all crowded around the poor guy. Hina was apparently acting as the stand in medic as she was trying to use Leon's belt as a makeshift tourniquet. On closer inspection, the grizzly mess became clearer. Taka's knee was a mess of shattered bone and a slowing leak of crimson blood, thanks to the tourniquet.

"What happened?" I said, slightly faintly.

"Piece of rebar shot itself through his leg when the bridge exploded, luckily it wasn't hard to remove. His knee was completely blasted to smithereens but he'll live, we managed to stop any more blood loss. He should wake up soon, he fainted from shock a while back" Mukuro answered as she stood above Hina, on stand-by.

"Poor dude aint gonna be walking any time soon, Hina was pretty awesome back there though" Leon praised while giving Hina a pat on the back.

Hina smiled meekly with a light blush.

"Well being a swimmer, I picked up a few things when it comes to first aid"

"Mukuro, where's the rest of us" I turned to the soldier who had stepped away from the fainted prefect.

"Togami is out in the garden getting some air and everyone else in the other room, bar the guys outside"

"Alright then. Leon and Hina can look after Ishimaru, Leon I want you to do exactly what Hina says" I instructed, both responding with short nods. "Mukuro, make sure everyone else is in good shape"

I turned to leave the room and re-join Kirigiri, but the Soldier followed me out of the door and gave my shoulder a short tap.

"Makoto, we can't stay here…"

Of course we couldn't stay here, I knew that. Considering the proximity to Tokyo, we'd have Junko on our doorstep immediately. The fact that Ishimaru wasn't going to be able to walk only worsened matters. We would need a car to get out of here.

"One thing at a time Mukuro, we haven't even found Fukawa yet…"

As if on cue…

"Someone help me with this crazy bitch!"

The voice was a gruff shout that nearly shook the house. Soon after, the door burst open and nothing could quite prepare me for what I was about to see. Oowada staggered into the room with a flailing Fukawa, or should I say Genocider Syo, in his outstretched arms similar to the way you would hold up a small puppy.

"Lemme go cornhead!"

Syo continued to wiggle and squeal until Oowada finally dropped her in a heap. Surprisingly, Oowada didn't look as annoyed as I thought he would, he just looked like he'd given up on life which I guess isn't exactly a good substitute.

Celes poked her head through the door and then pointed at the very confused serial killer on the floor with a finger.

"What is going on with her?"

"Oh this is Syo" I answered while rubbing my neck with a tinge of awkwardness.

"Who?" Celes asked again, eyebrows furrowed to their limit. "It's almost as if you just called Fukawa by the same name as a famous serial killer, but that would be impossible? Right?"

I laughed a very short lived and very uneasy laugh.

"Eh… about that…"

"Long story short; Fukawa has a form of multiple personality syndrome. Her alternate personality just happens to be the famous serial killer Syo. A switch in personality can be caused by losing consciousness to just a light sneeze"

If i had to describe the facial expressions of both Celes and Oowada in just one word, I'd probably go with 'done'. Celes began to pinch the bridge of her nose with eyes clamped shut.

"Of course Fukawa is a serial killer, makes perfect sense. Does Fujisaki moonlight as wrestler in the WWE as well? Or does Ishimaru sell drugs behind the bleachers at lunchtime?!"

I didn't know how to respond, so I did what I usually do in such a situation. I laughed awkwardly. The laugh died a quick death as the gamblers crimson eyes bored their way into my very soul.

"Honestly, it does seem pretty contrived and far-fetched" Kirigiri said as she walked into the hallway.

"Complain to Kodaka then" I sighed.

"Who the hell is that" Oowada wondered with a small head cock to the right.

"Don't worry"

"Excuse me! Little help down here"

Apparently Syo didn't take to kindly to having us talk about her while she was bundled in a heap on the floor. Luckily, she already knew the situation we were in considering it was only Fukawa who had her memory wiped, another thing that Celes and Kyoko both pointed at as being even more contrived.

Introducing Syo properly to the rest of the gang didn't exactly go down a treat, but I reassured them that Syo would never hurt one of us. Except maybe Togami. Most of the people in the group were giving the serial killer the side-eye from across the room. The girl herself didn't really seem to care though, she just stood there with a big old smile and her tongue sticking out as usual.

Although Ishimaru was still passed out, we had now had everyone gathered up again. We took some time out to get a break and lick our wounds, but it soon came time to talk about what comes next. Obviously we couldn't stay here, that much was bleakly apparent. Unfortunately, with Ishimaru in the condition he's in, he can't walk and carrying him would be difficult to say the least without a stretcher. With us huddled around an old table with the only map we had, we searched for our hunting grounds.

"If we walk to this town here, then we have a chance of finding a car on our way. Right?" Sakura pointed to the little town, not too far from where the bridge was on the map.

"We would need more than one car though. Finding one car in working order shouldn't be too hard, but three? Four? That's gonna be a little trickier" Said Leon as he studied the map.

"We can only find out by trying, no point in just sitting here" Yamada reasoned.

I lifted my gaze from the map for a second to give a small smile and a nod.

"Exactly the way to think about it Yamada"

My head arced back down to scrutinize the map once more. Thank god Jin taught me to properly navigate otherwise id have no clue.

"Alright then…" I took my finger to the map to measure the distance from the bridge to the town. "It looks like it'll be a thirty-minute walk, give or take…"

The room collectively sighed at the thought of walking any further today.

"So Im gonna need some people to drive the cars when/if we find them. I need three drivers, so if there is anyone who believes they would be up to the job, then please speak up"

Mukuro quietly raised her hand, unsurprisingly. She had driven plenty of vehicles during her Fenrir days so she was perfect for the job. The only other hand was Mondo's.

Leon looked to his left to the gang-leader beside him.

"I thought bikes were more your shtick?"

The biker let out a short, amused, grunt.

"Doesn't mean I haven't Joy-rode some cars in my time"

The Biker's eyes seemed to glaze over for a brief second, a mischievous grin tugged at his lips. However, as quick as it came, the biker seemed to snap back to reality. Good memory I suppose.

"Okay people, that's two. We need one more then. I've had a few lessons, before the tragedy, but I'd rather have someone with a bit more experience behind the wheel"

After a couple of seconds, it came apparent that no one was going to volunteer. Until…

"I'll do it…"

To my surprise, Hagakure had stepped forward ever so slightly. To say there were mixed reactions would be a kind way of putting it. The likes of Chihiro and Sayaka encouragingly smiled, even though I think both of them secretly doubted the shaman. Meanwhile, Celes looked like she was about to start howling with laughter. Unperturbed, Hiro continued.

"I did have my driving license, and I am the oldest here so I guess I should be the one to do it"

"You say 'Did'" Hifumi said with more than a little unease.

"Might have gotten my license postponed for driving while under the influence, but that don't matter"

The room exhaled together in some sort of depressing chorus. I, on the other hand, was thankful that I didn't have embarrass myself with my pretty dire driving.

"Well if you're sure Hiro" I turned back to the map to study the route. I took out a marker pen and marked down the path. "Okay then… So there will be the three drivers going obviously. Going with them will be myself, obviously, Hina and Kyoko" I lifted my eyes quickly to look at the two girls. Although she looked rather bemused, Hina nodded her head. On the other hand, Kyouko just slightly lowered her head as a sign of her consent. There was reason for those two in particular. The detective because I already knew that she wouldn't let me not take her, so I may as well save myself the time. For Aoi, I was hoping that the walk would give me a chance to have a quick talk with her. "I want Sakura and Togami on guard duty for an hour, then another pair can take over. We leave in fifteen, get some food and drink in you before we leave." After I finished my laundry list of things I wanted to air before leaving, I looked at my gathered friends. I was greeted by enthusiastic faces smiling back at me, or at least as enthusiastic as the likes of Celes and Togami can get. A certain rush of confidence came over me when I saw my friends smiling back at me, confidence that we can persevere and maybe live a normal life given some time. With the feeling still burning deep inside me, I rolled up the map and stashed it away in my pocket. As the group dispersed, a thought came to mind.

"Oh I forgot, Togami, can I borrow you quick?"

The Heir looked over his shoulder, nearly out of the door.

"What?"

"Eh, privately please…"

The heir made a small sigh of annoyance. He waited until the room had emptied before positioning himself opposite to me at the table.

"Spit it out then plankton"

I swiftly looked at my watch before fessing up my reason for grabbing him.

"Its 1PM now; we should be back early this evening, but just in case we aren't… I want you to leave without us if we don't get back by 9PM. There's no point sitting around for us with Junko breathing down our necks"

A cocked eyebrow rose above the Heir's glasses.

"And why are you telling me this in particular?"

"I want you to take my position until you get to safety, then when you are safe, hold a vote to decide who will be the leader for the foreseeable future"

The Heir seemed intrigued for the first time in recent times.

"What's stopping me from keeping control?"

I looked closely at the blonde boy in front of me.

"Nothing… Just my trust that you'll respect my wishes"

There was a short silence as Togami and I scrutinised each other.

"Say I did and say you have not returned by 9PM, then what should I do with the Hall monitor?"

"You'll think of something; you always do" I said confidently. The heir seemed to appreciate the stroking of his ego as his usual stiff lips were replaced with a self-assured smirk. "I just ask that you don't leave him to Junko, no one deserves that…So do I have you word?"

The Heir turned to the door, but before leaving he craned his neck back to side-eye me as he left.

"I'll think about it…"

 **A/N**

 **Hey look im back**

 **I know you hate me and i said id be updating more regularly but ive just been busy with school and then work and then my rather inconsistent love life.**

 **Good news though- summer holidays! (Im a brit so we only have the 6 weeks) so that means more chapters- hopefully one a week? ill try :D**

 **Anyways thanks all for the continued support (Nearly 100 kudos' damn you guys are badasses), please kudos and comment**

 **Have a good day!**


	7. Chapter 7

Before the leaving the house, we tried to fix all the glaring injuries and such like the large cut above Mondo's eye. Leon didn't seem too pleased about having more of his clothing being used for impromptu medical supplies, as Hina used his jacket sleeves to make a makeshift bandage. Now that I didn't have any adrenalin pumping through me, I could really feel how sore I actually was. My shoulder was pretty much in perpetual pain, as well as the spear wound I suffered back at the academy. With no medicine I had to, unfortunately, just live with it. Once we were all ready to get going, we set off down the road, myself leading while Mukuro insisted on navigating. We started off at a brisk walking pace, full of vigour and enthusiasm. However, that enthusiasm was short lived as our marching slowly turned into a slow and arduous slog. The long and boring country roads seemed to stretch on forever, only to chain into large inclines then declines. It didn't help that the sun was being particularly merciless. Soon enough, I began to flag just a little and let Mukuro power on ahead at the point of our messy formation. After what felt like more than just half an hour, we breached the top of a steep hill to be greeted by a town in the valley below.

Mukuro looked down at the map, before looking back up and pointing down into the valley.

"That's our destination"

"Finally…" Huffed Hagakure as he tiredly staggered up the hill.

"How are you already knackered?" Oowada said as he watched the shaman struggle to the top.

"Hey… respect your elder… dude" Hiro retorted between exasperated breaths.

"Pft… Whatever dude" Mondo shrugged.

I shaded my eyes from the bright sun to gaze on the town below. There was one large road that seemed to run straight through the centre of town. In the middle of the main road was a circular hub with some building or monument in the middle, smaller streets branching off from the centre. On the outskirts seemed to be the more industrial area, with old looking factories set in even older looking courtyards. While taking one more sweeping look at the valley and the town below, I noticed a small building on the right side of the valley.

" _A cabin maybe...?"_

This building, whatever it may be, had a small trail that lead right down to the town. I was so engrossed in probing the area for its secrets that I failed to notice Mukuro slide up next to me in almost silence until she opened her mouth.

"Plan of action?"

"I've got a plan, kind of" I Responded "I don't think going right into the town from the main road would be a good idea, too exposed and we don't know what could be waiting in ambush"

The soldier nodded in agreement.

"So I was thinking we could maybe go to that hut right there" I said as I pointed up at the rocky side of the valley. "Then swing down from there, right into the town, via that dirt track. Thoughts?"

"I'm willing to trust your judgement, you haven't screwed up yet" She voiced while turning her head to the side to look at me, a wry smile adorning her lips.

I rubbed my neck awkwardly in embarrassment, trying my very best not the blush.

"Well there was the whole bridge fiasco this morning"

The girl shrugged.

"Well I don't think any of us saw that coming, not even Kirigiri"

"Well I'll try not to screw up and disappoint you from now on then..."

Turns out my attempts to not blush was in vain as I felt my cheeks fire up slightly. The soldier, who was apparently trying her best to not look at me wasn't faring much better.

"W-Well make sure you don't" The soldier replied, voice quavering slightly.

I nodded, feeling quite self-conscious due the burning coming from my cheeks. I turned and headed back down a little to the group.

"Alright guys, we still have a hike ahead of us" I said, knowing full well what the resounding response would be anything but positive.

Mondo grunted, Kyoko sighed, Hiro cried a little and Hina seemed a little too excited for her own good. Again, we marched, but this time on loose rocks and shale which only served to exacerbate the journey. On the positive side of things, the view from the path was beautiful. The town nestled into the basin of the valley, its sprawling shape just peeking out of the canopy of trees that sat on the incline itself. Another positive was the fact that the sun was being partially impeded by a spattering of clouds, not so much that the sky was overcast and dreary but enough so that we weren't being pelted by sun light all the time anymore. I was interrupted from my sight-seeing when I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Hey Naegi, you said you wanted to talk to me" Hina piped up from behind me.

"Oh yeah, sorry Hina, I guess i forgot" I responded with a bashful grin. "Got a lot of things on my mind"

The swimmer giggled a little, a sound that could make the most serious of people crack at least a small smile.

"Not surprising, you've got a lot on your plate"

"We all do" I shrugged, as I continued up the hill. "So how do you feel about the whole Ishimaru thing?"

"Eh, what do you mean?"

"Well you did really well" I enthused. "I was just wondering if you felt comfortable"

"Y-Yeah think so" She answered.

"After what happened I've been thinking about something…" I looked at my walking companion, looking for approval to speak my mind.

"Go ahead" She nodded.

"W-Well…Uhh…" I murmured.

"Spit it out Naegi…"

I paused to gain some composure and clear my throat

"Well, as much as I want to avoid it, people are going to get hurt…I'll try to minimize risk but even so, i don't think we can completely avoid it. With that in mind, I was wondering if you could be the group's medic. O-Only if you're comfortable with it, please don't feel like you're obliged to say yes or anything"

Hina smiled as she heard me descend into some babbling about how she shouldn't feel pressured into it. The brunette gave my arm a gentle tug to get me to stop talking.

"Why were you so awkward asking me" She inquired, knowing all too well that there was something up.

"I-I don't know…" I muttered "I guess… I just feel bad for asking"

"How so?"

I rubbed my neck awkwardly. "I dunno, I suppose I feel as though I should be taking responsibility for it"

The only respond was a jab to the arm and I rather pissed-of looking Hina, completely opposite to how she was literally thirty seconds ago.

"Wha-?" I managed to utter before getting jabbed a second time, this time the shot connected right to my midriff.

"Don't be so selfish Naegi" She huffed with a pout.

"I-Im not being selfish" I stammered back, trying to rub away the pain from my stomach. Boy did she have a punch on her, even if it was just a light one. "I-It's just dangerous you know? Also…I feel like I need to prove myself to you guys" I confessed.

"Naegi…" She sighed "you can't do everything yourself you know"

"I know that bu- " I tried to rebuttal. I was already quite aware of the fact that I still had quite a few chinks in my armour but I guess I was just scared of seeming weak. How could the group believe in someone that they perceived as undependable or even fragile?

"Shh, Hina's talking now" She hushed with a dismissive wave. "I get that you want to prove yourself but you gotta see that we want to help you. We don't expect you do to everything yourself, you're not weak for letting people help you Naegi. The best leaders know how to delegate"

I looked at the pristine picture below as I let her soft words to ferment. She was right. Hina may not be what you would define as 'book smart' but she was most definitely wiser then people give her credit for. "You're right…"

"Damn right im right!" She shouted with a happy little skip and fist pump. The swimmer's smile shone brightly, which caused me to grin back happily. Another skill in Hina's locker is that she can be incredibly infectious at times, in a good way that is.

"So I suppose it's a yes then?"

"Of course, I'll try my best!" she addressed with a straight face and a salute.

"You don't have to salute me Hina" I said, awkwardly scratching my cheek.

She let an airy little giggle before jogging away to catch up with the front of the pack.

"I know!"

I couldn't help but laugh a little as I saw the swimmer bound up the hill with energy.

" _It would take a lot to stop that girl that's for sure…"_

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

Makoto Naegi. About as ordinary as it comes when it comes to names. That being said, the name certainly felt familiar to the detective. Funnily enough, that exact same sentiment was akin to the boy in general. When she was near him she couldn't help but detect this faint sensation of belonging, like she was accustomed to him. Perhaps it was because he was just that kind of person, someone who could make people feel comfortable around them pretty quick. Hell, he'd managed to get her to start referring to him by his first name and vice versa in a pretty short amount of time. Then again, it was him that requested it to begin with. The detective looked back at the two bringing up the rear. Makoto was rubbing his neck ruefully as Asahina seemed to be chiding him. However, it didn't take long for radiant smiles to return. A couple of seconds later; the swimmer jogged past the detective and right to the front with Mondo, leaving the Luckster to hurry along a rather grumpy looking shaman. The cabin wasn't that far away, maybe about five minutes. Out of the corner of her eye, Kirigiri noticed Ikusaba walking slightly behind her. Dropping her pace slightly, the Detective pulled up alongside the Soldier.

"Ikusaba"

"Kirigiri"

"I was wondering if I could inquire about something" Stated the detective _._

"O-Oh okay, go ahead"

"You are the one that informed me of my talent, im curious as to what else you know about me"

"I think you would be better off speaking to Makoto about that, he was closer to you then I was" Mukuro answered with a flick of her head towards the boy, who was now practically dragging Hagakure up the hill "Then again he was close to everyone…"

"I see" acknowledged the detective. "He seems like the type that can get along with anyone"

The soldier let out a brisk snort.

"Why do you think he was elected as leader by the headmaster? It certainly wasn't for strength or intelligence, it's down to his people skills"

Kirigiri hummed softly.

"While we are on the matter, what can you tell me about the Headmaster?" Inquired Kirigiri. "He seems like a rather enigmatic character"

The soldier reared up in surprise by the question, her spine straightening out till she was bolt upright. Kirigiri noticed this immediately, but that didn't the Soldier from trying to play it off as nothing.

"I-I…I'd ask Makoto that, not me" Mukuro deflected, inwardly cringing at her rather shaky response and the fact that she practically pushed the responsibility of telling Kirigiri of her father unto Naegi.

"I understand" Kirigiri said, accompanied with a flick of her hair in a way that Mukuro would define as maybe a little offhand.

"Kirigiri…" called Ikusaba as the detective began to walk off. The girl looked over her shoulder, brows knitted rather thoroughly. "I-I do want to help you; I just think Makoto would be better at explaining things to you…"

The other girl's brow unknitted slightly, her body language relaxing a little a little bit.

"I appreciate that Ikusaba" said Kirigiri softly. "I just want answers"

"Well if there is anything else you want to ask; I can try to help"

The detective looked at the panoramic view of the town below, looking rather thoughtful for a moment before turning back to the soldier.

"What can you tell me about your sister…?"

 **XxX**

The cabin was completely isolated in the high reaches of the valley, absolutely nothing to accompany it but rocks and the odd patch of grass. Mukuro and I approached the building, keeping low to the ground as we made it up the final part of the hill. The others, however, hung back on my instruction. Soon enough, we made it to the window. I stood up ever so slightly from my previously crouching position to peer into the cabin through the window. Unfortunately, the curtains were pulled too.

"How do you wanna go about this" I whispered too Mukuro.

"We could go through the window, or by the door" She breathed.

"No point getting broken glass everywhere, we go through the front door very slowly" I instructed with a point.

The Soldier gave a slight nod. She then creeped up to the door, myself close behind her. I placed my hand on her shoulder as gently as possible to get her attention but not surprise her or catch her off guard.

"Mukuro. Be careful"

She didn't respond. I'd seen her get like this before. I guess you could call it 'her zone' as cringe worthy as that sounds. While in said zone, her mind takes a back seat as her instincts takeover. She wrapped her fist around the door handle, knuckles turning white. She progressively began to twist the door knob, bit by bit. I could feel a familiar mix of emotions stir inside me. Anxiety, worry, dread, fear. I didn't have time to let my emotions get the best of me though as the door began to creak to an open.

"Watch out" Mukuro commanded, holding her arm out to stop me from movement.

"H-Huh?" I gasped.

Without replying, she pointed towards the doorway. Although at first I couldn't see what she was so worried about, I soon noticed a thin line running from one side of the frame to the other. Said line was about 5 inches off the floor, perfect height for someone to walk into, and so narrow that it was practically invisible.

"Mukuro, you honestly amaze me" I remarked, thoroughly impressed.

"T-Thank you" She muttered back.

Though she refused to take her eye off the prize, I could see a dash of pink grow on the freckled face of the Soldier.

I pulled the knife I kept tucked away within my belt. "Would you like to take the honours?"

Mukuro put her hand out, demanding the knife. I placed the blade in her outstretched palm, which she then used to cut the taut wire. The way she diligently went about her work, ever so daintily snipping the wire, just served to impress me more. She then reached around the door frame to find what was primed to kill us. When her hand reeled back, it had the addition of a hand grenade; complete with nails hammered into the explosive.

"You can hold unto that" I said meekly as I pointe at the nasty little contraption.

I turned back to the group of four hiding in the bushes down the path and gave them a signal that the coast was clear as Mukuro entered the home.

"Makoto… Get in here" Mukuro exclaimed from inside the building.

Hearing this, I quickly dashed into the cabin's doorway. I was met by a horrific smell that assaulted all of my senses so powerfully it felt like I had run straight into a wall. It was unmistakable. I've smelt it too many times now that I knew what it was. The odour was the distinctive stench of death. I pushed my hand out swiftly to stop the four from advancing any further. Three of them stood, frozen. On the other hand, Kirigiri carried on unperturbed.

"You guys wait out here, I don't think you're going to like what you see if you come in" I suggested.

"You sure?" Oowada grunted.

"Think so, I'll call you if I need you. Stay on your guard, maybe have a look around to see if there's anything of use nearby but don't stray too far"

After saying this, the group of three dispersed. I stared into the black abyss that was the dark dwelling. I could faintly make out the low droning of hundreds of flies from inside the far reaches of the home. I took a deep breath, gaining my composure, before making a few intrepid steps forward.

Inside, the first thing I noticed was just how warm it was. It was like I had just stepped into a sauna. I felt genuinely queasy and nauseous as the sickly sweet aroma of rotting flesh and the dizzying heat mixed into a horrible concoction. This, however, didn't stop me from taking tentative steps into the middle of the room. On one side, was a normal everyday kitchen you'd see outfitted in any cabin. This was connected to a living room-esque space, complete with furniture and a television. On the carpet below the TV, I noticed splashes of dark carmine against the soft beige of the carpet. The blood had long dried up, however, that didn't stop me from observing the large drag marks that led right around the corner, to the cabins rear. I followed the long stain, all the way. The hum of flies growing louder and the stench growing more repulsive as I progressed.

Upon turning the corner, the two girls turned around and behind them I saw what was causing the smell. Two bodies. One was sprawled on the floor, a sea of dry blood under them. The other was impaled unto the wall with a large spear imbedded in their chest. Seeing the seen caused a scream to bubble its way up my throat. I clamped my hands over my mouth, trying not to let a scream bubble its way up my throat. I guess you could say it worked. Instead of a fully-fledged shriek, I let out some weird sort of gargling noise.

"Despicable, isn't it" Kyoko muttered as she crouched down to investigate the cadaver on the floor.

"F-For the life of me, I don't know how you investigate it like it's nothing" I said as tried not to look at the two corpses right in front of me.

"I suppose being the ultimate Detective desensitises you to this sort of thing" The purple haired girl mused "Then again im not exactly thrilled to be doing this"

"Agreed" I replied as I staggered my way over to the other body.

It was hard to imagine this thing in front of me was ever human. Below the body was a dried puddle of god-knows-what, meanwhile, the body itself was not much more than a husk. The flesh had blackened with time, rupture's in the skin from where the voracious maggots that worked their way within the cadaver.

"Not the best way to go…" I whispered, to no one in particular.

Mukuro hummed in agreement behind me.

"Being speared to death isn't exactly high on my 'most preferable ways to die' list either" She said before walking back around the corner.

Deciding I didn't want to have to look at the sight any longer, in fear of losing my breakfast, I stepped away.

"Kyoko, you found anything out?" I asked.

"Well this woman has long slash marks across her stomach… I think she was gravely injured; then someone, probably that man, took her here and she finally bled out…" She said grimly as she pointed to the long drag marks in the blood.

"I wonder if they were a part of a group…" I asked to no one in particular. Who knows, we may meet their friends down in the town below. If they are down there, the real question is if they're friendly or hostile.

"Well if they were, the rest of the group may be long gone. These bodies have been here for maybe a month. You can tell by what stage of the decomposition cycle the body is going through" Kyoko explained as she stood up, brushing her blouse and skirt off in the process.

I looked at the body Kyoko was standing over. Just as she said, brutal slashes peppered her stomach.

"Monokuma's. No doubt" I said, the faint feeling of bile rumbling deep in my throat.

"You know how I said I thought I was desensitised to it" She mumbled, not tearing her eyes away from the gruesome scene.

"Y-Yeah…"

"I don't think anyone can become truly numb to it…" She confessed, her voice barely above inaudible. Although her mask was for the most part intact, I could tell she was thinking about something from the small dip in her speaking voice. I wouldn't call It fear. It was more akin to apprehension. Maybe after spending so much time with the young detective I was gradually becoming to read her emotions, little by little. I could probably even hazard a guess at what she was thinking.

" _I_ s _this what we can expect from now on?"_

I bit my lip a little before reaching out for her hand and giving it a short but gentle tug.

"I think we should go Kyoko" I comforted as I walked away from the scene.

She didn't respond, she just followed.

"Ah Naegi!" shouted Hina from outside the house. "Look what Mondo found!"

The swimmer proceeded to pull me by my collar, Kyoko following me closely behind. Hina kept leading me till we got down the drive a little, it is there that I saw Oowada's legs dangling out of the drivers set of an old looking jeep. The car was parked in a bay that the owner of the cabin probably used back in the day.

"Awesome! Only two more to go then" I cheered enthusiastically as I inspected the engine. "Was it just sitting here then?"

"Yeah" answered Mondo from inside the car. "But there's a reason for it"

"Oh" I groaned, enthusiasm ebbing.

Mondo picked himself out of the foot-well of the car before slamming the door shut.

"Battery's flat and the drive belt is knackered"

"Is that fixable?" Questioned Kyoko.

"Piece of cake if I had the parts, which I don't"

I looked at my watch. 2:15 PM.

"Alright, we're gonna have to walk down to the town regardless and there must be a mechanic somewhere around there. We go down there, we find the two extra cars, we find replacement parts for the jeep, we get out. Any questions?" I proposed as I closed the hood on the car.

"Yeah, can we stop for lunch? Please?" Begged Hiro.

He was answered by Mondo smacking him on the back of the head. The shaman spun round on a dime to face the biker, who was whistling nonchalantly.

"Weren't me"

"Wh-What? Naegs! Oowada's bullying me!"

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I started wandering down the path towards the town.

" _No rest for the wicked, huh?"_

 **A/n**

 **Hey people! Look at me, i updated twice in a month. You proud? Please be proud.**

 **Anywho, this chapter wouldve been out like a week and a half ago but i managed to fracture my metatarsal (top of your foot) while playing football or soccer if your a yank. so ive been in and out of hospital and stuff. Like it swole up so bd that when i went to buy a pair of boots today, i was a 11 shoe size on my uninjured and a twelve on my injured XD**

 **So going forward, im travelling to france on tuesday, and i wont be back till the week after car so i should have a lot of time in the car and just sitting in my hotel to write the next chapter, but i dont know if ill br sble to upload it, depends on the signal out there. Hopefully it wont be too long till you see nother update.**

 **Have a good weekend guys and girls, favourite, follow, comment, review, Kudos all that and ill see you soon!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Word of warning, gets a little gory**

We skulked down numerous alleyways and side roads, making sure we didn't expose ourselves too much. The main objective: finding a mechanic shop. Of course we needed the other two cars but we would cross that bridge it when it came to it. We headed to the more industrial part of town, hoping it would improve our chances of finding what we needed.

"This town is giving me crazy bad vibes dude" Hiro whispered as we strode through the umpteenth vacant lot that afternoon.

To be fair, I shared his sentiment. Everything was, as cliché as it sounds, way to quiet too be comfortable. The whole area didn't sit right with me. What if there are agents of despair watching us from one of these dormant factories, just waiting for the hunt to begin. I shook my head, clearing my cluttered thoughts. There was no point thinking that way, it only muddied the proverbial waters.

On our travels, we came across a small car dealership. Unfortunately, it was nearly stripped to nothing. There was, however, some parts here and there that we could use as spare parts if certain problems were to arise. I guess we could expect more of this too come. Coming across places where the scavengers have already picked the place clean or only left what they couldn't carry. Perhaps when we start moving away from the big cities, we will have more luck.

Salvation finally came in the form of an advertisement, which directed us in the direction of what we were pining for. When we saw the mechanics, any anticipation we had of finally reaching our goal soon dissipated.

"It's built like a fucking fortress"

Oowada ran a massive paw through his dishevelled hair, his signature pompadour sagging and tangled from sweat. We were all crouched down behind a row of hedges parallel to the shop. A wrought iron gate sat in between two large redbrick pillars. From there, a giant wire fence wrapped itself around the whole site. Both the iron gate and fence were tipped with pointed blades to dissuade intruders such as ourselves. The courtyard itself was a pit of a wreck. Rubbish littered the ground, as did discarded crates and boxes. Also discarded was a large rectangular shipping container, pushed up against the fence which backed up onto the building to its left.

"How eloquently put" Kyoko remarked as she scanned the area.

"Not wrong though" I added.

We weren't going to solve anything by sitting there, so I made the executive decision and creeped into the road to get to the fence on the other side. I scurried to the other side, the others soon behind me, and then placed my hands on the iron gate. I gave it a heavy push and it barely budged.

"Locked" I sighed. I didn't know what else I was expecting when I saw the closed gate.

"Do you reckon someone could fit through the bars?" Hina asked to no one in particular.

Rather than waiting for a response, the swimmer tried to squeeze herself into the tiny gap. After a couple of seconds of trying valiantly but failing, she stopped trying to contort her body into the space.

"Eh, maybe not then" She said with a bashful smile and a shrug.

"Oh dude! We could climb the fence!" Exclaimed Hiro as he pointed a finger to the offending metal fence in front of us, in such a grandiose manner it was like he was presenting evidence in court.

"You could try; I wouldn't suggest it though" Kyoko said, quickly shutting the Shaman down. The girl then proceeded to point at a yellow sign that was pinned to the gate itself. The sign depicted a stick figure being struck by a bolt of lightning.

"It's electrified?" I observed.

"Whether it is or isn't remains to be seen. I am not willing to put my hand on it to find out and I doubt any of you are"

Kyoko tipped her head when she heard murmurs of agreement as if to say 'thought so'.

"Every cloud has a silver lining though" She announced as she walked opposite to the fence, inspecting the courtyard of the shop. "If we go off the assumption that this fence is electrified then we can deduce that there is a generator in play which in turn means- "

"Fuel" I gasped as the realisation struck me.

The detective flashed me a set of curved soft pink lips.

"I believe that to be the case, yes"

"But…" I muttered "If there's a generator, there might be people too right…"

In acknowledgement, Kyoko nodded slightly with a small grimace. I looked down at my watch to confirm the time. 3PM now, time was slowly ticking away, faster than I desired anyways.

"This is gonna be pretty dangerous isn't it" Hina worried as she stared at the building.

I gently patted the brunette on the shoulder.

"I don't think we have a choice; this may be the only place to get parts. But I know we can do it" To punctuate this, I gave Hina a thumbs up. The swimmer seemed to appreciate the gesture and meekly put her thumb up too.

I took one more glance over my shoulder at the compound, taking inventory. My eyes set themselves on the shipping container once more, then the roof of the neighbouring building.

"Right then. I might have a plan"

 **XxX**

Kyoko's eyes darted from the ladder and then back to me, then back to the ladder.

"And you're sure about this?" She asked, eyebrow cocked in my direction.

I gave the rungs of the ladder a good shake to make sure it was stable.

"If I had other options I'd take them" I replied.

"I don't really see the problem" Oowada shrugged as he inspected the ladder for himself. His large hands jolting the rungs, causing the ladder to shake like a leaf in the wind. Hina shot a look of pure bewilderment at the biker, her body language and expression saying it all.

I shielded my eyes from the sun as I looked straight up. Stagnant rain water trickled slowly from moss covered gutters above us, causing tiny puddles to form in the dips of the alley. The wall that the ladder was pushed again was crumbling and decaying, presumably due to the drip down of rain water and the erosion of wind.

"Look, if we go one at a time then we should be fine" Mukuro reassured.

After ditching the main gate, I led the gang around to the business next to the mechanic. Oowada was able to kick the door down on that shop, but there wasn't any way we could access the roof. That was until Kyoko noticed an alleyway and in said alleyway was the rusty ladder. I placed my foot on the first rung and began climbing, doing my best to ignore the disgustingly slimy texture of the ladder and the pain blooming from my shoulder down to my waist. The ladder was far too precarious for my liking, it felt like it was gonna fall apart in my hands. As much as I would've liked to have gotten down from my unstable perch and think of an alternative, we were both short on time and options. I took a second too look down, which I then immediately regretted as my stomach dropped cripplingly. Hagakure was beginning to climb up after me now that I was nearly at the top. As Hiro started to catch up, I noticed the strain the ladder was under as it creaked deafeningly.

"Hiro!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, my arms coiling around a rung to secure myself. "Don't go any further!"

The shaman practically jumped off when he heard me shout from above. Now that it was only me on the ladder again, I creeped upward again. This slow progress continued until I heard a shrill metallic clank. My head shot up again, only to see a bolt whiz past my face to the ground below.

" _Huh?"_

It took a torturous couple of seconds before my brain had deciphered what was going on, the screams below only faintly meeting my deaf ears. As the integrity of the ladder began to buckle further, I pulled myself within less of a metre from the ledge. It was at this moment I felt gravity take effect, the safety I once had begun to dissipate. The rusty metal let out a low pitched yawn as the ladder began to tip back. It was a now or never moment. I bent my knees before springing up again, pawing in the air for the ledge. With hooked fingers, I grasped onto the edge of the building. My body slammed against the wall as I tenaciously gripped onto the lip of the slippery ledge, wounds erupting in flames of agony. This impact, however, didn't loosen the vice grip I had on the stonework. My arms jittered and twitched as I desperately clawed my way up. With my torso now beached on the edge of the lip, I swung my heavy feet to hitch myself up and over. I rolled over to safety, my heart hammering at a rate of knots inside my nervy chest. I sat there for a second, panting like a dog in the baking sun.

"Makoto?!" Hina called from below, her voice ricocheting around the alleyway.

I took a couple more gasps of air before carefully rolling myself over to look into the alleyway. All five of them were staring at me with various degree of worry on their faces. Mukuro and Kyoko looked relatively nonplussed while Hiro and Hina had jaws practically swinging.

"Im good!" I replied as I gave them a thumbs up. I got to my feet before dusting the various types of dirt off my jeans.

"What are we doing then?" Mukuro asked from below, her voice sounding like a whisper from the dizzying heights I was at. Probably because she wasn't keen on shouting only to garner unwanted attention.

"I'll carry on alone, then ill unlock the main gate for you guys" I announced, as I looked around my immediate area to get my bearings. A shimmering sea of solar panels covered most of the roof space nearby, the panels reflecting the light from the sun so brightly that I had to shield my eyes. To get to the bit I needed too, I would have make a small jump or, alternatively, I could walk across a heating system but considering how slick the ledge was meant I was having my reservations. "Wait for me by the hedgerows"

Upon hearing this, Mukuro led the group out of the alley. I made my way across the rooftops, scaring birds away in the process. I tentatively peered over the edge of the small gap between two buildings. Honestly, the gap wasn't much more than a foot in length but that didn't stop me from getting worried about the cavernous depths below. If I fell from here, the only thing I could really hope for was a quick death. I took a couple of steps back, inhaled, exhaled, then skipped over the gap. So far so good.

Now that I was at the desired location, I could see the hedgerow and by extension the group as Hagakure's hair poked out of the brush. Now I was up close to the bladed spires on the fence, I could really appreciate how very dangerous they looked. The long finger like knifes were only a couple of inches higher than the roof I was standing on, but there was a gap that was nearly a metre long between it and I. The perfect place for me to impale myself. Despite this horrible thought; I stretched my legs, preparing to jump the blades and then hopefully land on the container. Preferably feet first of course. I backed up a bit, giving myself more of a run-up then previously. I sucked in air in between gritted teeth, then quickly exhaled again. Same as before. Now I was all psyched up, I started my attack. Within a few steps, my legs had opened up to a full on sprint. Using the slightly elevated rim of the roof, I sprung forward on my strong foot. In mid-air, I rapidly shot my legs forward to a sitting position, adopting a position that mimicked a long-jumpers. After clearing the defences, gravity started to pull me back down and I plummeted to the ground. Unable to readjust my legs into landing position, I landed bottom first on the shipping crate. That, however, wasn't the end of the debacle. Rather than landing on the container and staying there, I bounced off the hollow metal with a dull clang. My body sprung up again without my consent, my whole world spinning into a mess of colours. I managed to twist my torso so that I would land on my good side as i hurtled towards the concrete. Rolling slightly after landing, I came to a stop. I dragged myself to my feet and looked towards the hedge, to see all five heads of my friends peering round the vegetation. From where I was, im pretty sure I heard Kyoko dryly remark "Good dismount" to Mukuro. Hiro and Oowada, meanwhile, were suppressing guffaws with hands clasped on their mouths. Hina, on the other hand, seemed a tad more sympathetic. Waving clumsily to the group, my feet lazily pulled me to the mechanic's door.

Thankfully, it was unlocked and I promptly slunk in. With nothing but the darkness of the room to accompany me, I shimmied myself deeper into the room with my guard raised. There must be someone here, or someone must've been here recently. A pang of guilt hit me low in the gut. What if these people are just like us, just trying to survive? I don't want to take things from fellow survivors when we should be working together. If there is people here, maybe we could strike an accord and agree deal. However, deep down, I know the likelihood of finding a group that was willing to be civil was low. Also, it's not like we have much bargaining power.

"Hello?" I called out, my voice carrying right down to the bottom of the room and reverberating loudly. My question was met with no answer except the low hum of what I suspected to be the generator.

I continued down the factory, the smell of oil only growing more powerful. Through the dark there were some identifiable shapes. Shells of cars complemented with their parts which were scattered haphazardly on the floor. I smiled with satisfaction at finding what we needed, relief washing over me in the form of a comfortable sigh. Now though, wasn't the time to rest on my laurels. Approaching what I presumed to be the manager's office, I swallowed nervously. While reaching out for the doorknob, the door slammed to an open. I expected to be met by something or someone but was met with neither. I stared into the inky darkness of the manager's office, the smell of oil mixing with another new smell.

"Must've been the wind" I rationalised out loud before an awkward chuckle.

I stepped carefully into the dark room, my hand desperately grasping the wall to find the light switch. The lights blinked to power, accompanied by a dull whirling sound. The office looked like a hurricane had torn through it. Splashes of blood littered the walls and the rooms furniture, as did various strike marks from what seemed to be a blunt instrument. It is during this time of observation that I noticed a limp hand poking out from behind the main desk. Morbid curiosity took over as my legs walked me over to the body without any assistance from my brain. Although the scene proved to be far grislier that the one at the cabin, I was able to clamp my hand over my agape mouth before letting out a glass breaking scream. Piled up, were three bodies, all on top of one another. All three had sustained severe blunt trauma to the head, their brains grey matter exposed for all to see. A sea of blood coated everything around the bodies, like some sort of macabre paint spillage. Unlike the corpses at the cabin, these were fresh. No more than perhaps a day. My legs wobbled as I reared up in sheer disgust, bile threatening to jump up the base of my throat. Looking away, I took a series of deep breaths. My thoughts turned to the key, then my eyes turned to the desk before me.

"If I were a betting boy…"

Tip-toeing my way through fractured skull, blood the shade of deep rose, chunks of scattered brain tissue and god-knows-what-else, I approached the desk drawers. My hand fumbled around in the crowded drawer until I heard a tell-tale clink of metal. With hypothesis proved correct; I dashed out of the room with key in hand, not wanting to stay in the same room as that atrocity. While swiftly hurrying out of the room, my hand rapidly rifled for the lights to the work area floor. The fixtures flickered into life, much like the ones in the manager's office, only to reveal someone blocking my way. Perhaps, it would be more apt to say something rather than someone. Honestly, who could even tell the difference anymore? The figure stood in front of me brandished a brutish looking baseball bat with nails tortured into the wood, decorated with a ruby sheen. The enigma wore tattered scraps of what used to be clothes, capped off with a blood smeared mask of the mascot. It lolloped towards me, slow but menacing. In the meantime, I started to back away slowly with arms outstretched.

"W-Wait!" I called out, my hands waving pathetically in front of me. "We don't have to do this!"

My answer came in the form of a bat being hurtled towards me. Evading to my left, i continued to back up. In the back of my mind, I could hear Jin berating me for being too naïve and soft.

"Ngh! Stop!" I pleaded once more, this time my tone evolving into something more commanding. I wasn't quite sure who I was addressing, Jin or my assailant. His unrelenting criticising echoed around my head, growing more incessant by the moment.

As if answering him with actions, the jagged tip on the switchblade sprang into action. Ice trickled through hot veins, my body hunkering down into a more combat ready stance. I had been trained by the best of the best during my three months stuck in the academy, I could do this. Fingers shifted nervously over the knifes handle, eyes nervously watching for the attackers next move. Another shot at my head, answered by the same action on my part. I proceeded to counter, my blade finding its mark in the bottom of the man's stomach. Ripping it out with reckless abandon, I caused blood to spray itself on the walls.

I want to avoid shedding blood if I can, and im willing to risk shedding my own to achieve that but I have to defend myself, especially with so many people counting on me. Expecting to see the aggressor doubled over in pain, I relaxed my shoulders ever so slightly. I was, however, taken aback to see the attacker standing just as solid as before, even with the growing red splotch on his worn shirt. I was so surprised, in fact, that I didn't see the bat race towards me again until very late. The man had flung the instrument at me at the pace of a fastball. I was able to duck to avoid getting an inopportune smack in the face, but I wasn't lucky enough or fast enough to avoid the vicious kick that followed it. I skated along the floor for a good couple of metres, my weapon following me. Before I could reach my defence, the assailant pinned me to the floor. While trying to wrestle him off, he snuck a blow into a gap in my guard. Taking this opportunity, the attacker moved his legs up higher up my body to pin my arms down with his knees. I struggled desperately to myself as his hands descended onto my throat. My vision distorted and pooled as a tight grip chocked my windpipe. I pawed frantically for the knife that I vaguely recognised as somewhere to my left, but the man's knee kept me stuck. My head got lurched forward before being smashed down hard on the concrete floor. As a result, my vision blacked out completely for a second. When it came back, dark shades were gloomier and the lighter shades painfully lively and glinting. I could feel my resolve wain as I begged for air. That was until the assailant made a slight adjustment, giving me just enough room to weasel my left arm from its prison.

I whipped my left arm around, my fist crumbling the mask. This hurt like hell, knuckles ached dully. Ignoring the pain, my hand dived for the knife. I faintly registered the metallic silver flash, before it disappeared again into the man's neck. The assailants own heart worked against him as it pumped his lifeblood out of his newly made wound. The blade was unceremoniously removed as the tables turned. Before I knew it, I was on top with my arms descending onto the masked figure. The soft paper of the mask stood no chance as the knife punctured through it, right between the two painted eyes. The sick cracking sound of bones snapping filled the room, harmonising with the sounds of the man's death throes and the spitting of crimson in a twisted opera. In neither a forgiving or merciless mood, instinct persuaded me to rear my arms up on more time and stab my enemy for the last time. I crawled away from the newly created corpse, bile spilling up my contused windpipe. There probably would've been more vomit if it wasn't for the fact there wasn't much in my gut to throw up. Instead, my body forced me to dry retch and cough as I collapsed on the floor near the growing puddle of blood and sick. I started to drift off a little, my body laid out on the icy floor.

" _How unlucky am I exactly"_

A painful shoulder, a sore stomach wound, warped vision, bruised up neck, covered in someone else's blood, a good amount of guilt hanging over me.

" _Oh, that unlucky"_

Could be worse though, besides, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Unfortunately, I wasn't really one for putting much stock in expressions. To avoid being caught in the tide of the spreading pool of blood, I got to my feet. I peeked over my shoulder to look at the mess I made. I regretted it, immediately longing for fresh air. A spark of energy ignited itself in the bottom of my gut, pushing me to the door to drink in the fresh air. Staggering through the door, cool wind filled deprived lungs. Standing there for a momentary peaceful moment, I drank what felt like the nectar of gods. Vision still blurry and distorted, I continued towards the gate with key in hand. When I eventually unlocked the gate with numb fingers, I was met with five pairs of eyes gawking back at me.

 **XxX**

The comfort of new clothes felt sinfully good against my tired skin. Not surprising really, considering my last ones were pretty much ruined. Mukuro had dashed to a store a block or so away to pick out some new threads. Just a simple pair of jeans and a white tee. Not that I minded, I wasn't really a flashy dresser anyways. Upon seeing me, Hina frogmarched me back inside to inspect me. The only other room aside from the main working space and the manager's office was what appeared to be a break room. At least that's what it used to be. Now, it was the generator room and probably where the assailant was hiding. Oowada was working on a getting two of the uncomplete vehicles road worthy with the help of Hagakure and Mukuro, while I was being given a look over by Hina and Kyoko. Well, more like Hina was while the detective looked on wordlessly. I talked to the swimmer about the events that had happened, her reassuring presence felt nice as she inspected my stomach wound. That was until a shrill clang sounded from down the hallway, followed by a grunt of pain. Seconds later, Oowada appeared in the doorway.

"Oi, Hina" The biker called, his large paws holding the side of the door as he peeped around. The swimmer made a slightly annoyed hum of acknowledgement as she continued to tend to my stomach. "The fucking idiot dropped a damn spanner on his foot, can you come check him or something"

Hina sighed loudly, rubbing her eyes in the process.

"Alright, im coming" She said, throwing me my shirt in the process of standing up. "I'll be back for you soon Naegi so don't move" She instructed. I couldn't help but smile slightly, she sure was taking her job seriously.

The swimmer bounded out of the room, but not before shooting a pointed finger at me. "I mean it"

She then galloped down the halls, calling Hagakure's name in the process. My attention naturally turned to the detective sitting opposite me. She too wore a smile, even though it was only a slight curling of lips. This, like most of her smiles unfortunately, dissipated quickly to be replaced by the renowned iron mask. Shame too, she always looked her best when she smiled.

"How are you feeling?" She inquired in her normal business like tone that always accompanied the iron mask.

"Oh, I'm okay!" I reassured with a nonchalant wave of the hand and a bashful grin, my automatic response.

Her eyes narrowed along with a set of furrowed brows. She studied me, watching me squirm slightly under her gaze. She had seen right through me, like I was made of glass. It wasn't like I lied to her on purpose though, it was more of a knee-jerk reaction. The detective stood from her seat, the legs of the chairs scrapping across the floor with a sharp squeak. She approached me, sitting neatly on the chair that Hina was sitting in previously.

"You said to Hina that you got hit on the back of the skull"

She leaned over, gloved hand reaching out to my face. I flinched slightly at the sudden contact of her hand on my bruised neck. I couldn't help but think this would look quite auspicious from the hallway, causing a small blush to bloom on my cheeks. I turned away, trying to hide my embarrassment, while her fingers ghosted their way to the back of my neck.

"Aah!" I yelled suddenly in a mix of shock and pain. Her index finger gently, but deliberately pushed down on the area that connected the top of my spine to my skull. Right where the assailant has smacked me against the floor only a half an hour or so ago.

"Oh" She voiced, her face plastered with intentionally obvious fake surprise. "I thought you said you were fine?" The sarcastic surprise was soon replaced by a cocky smirk, satisfied that she'd caught me up in my own lie. "Has your vision been fuzzy at all?" She asked, this time with her usual level tone. Her long elegant fingers continued to ghost their way round my neck, this time conscious of the bruising.

"It was when I first got hit, but its cleared up a little" I answered, my voice quavering slightly as I tried not to wince at the detective's carefully placed touches.

The detective then abruptly removed the gloved hands from my neck, returning them to sit on her lap. Meanwhile, I leaned back in my chair now I wasn't being inspected. She looked pensive for a moment, choosing the right words to say perhaps.

"The back of the head is where the visual cortex is located, thankfully it seems you haven't damaged it extensively but you may still suffer some symptoms like nausea, dizziness and distortion of colours" She explained.

"O-Oh right" I replied, slightly taken aback at the potential gravity of my sustained injuries.

"Makoto. You gain no advantage from hiding things from me, and the rest of the group. You only set yourself and, by extension, the group at a disadvantage" She commented sternly as she relaxed into her seat.

I casted my gaze downwards stiffly, feeling rather inadequate. "Sorry…"

I didn't dare look up, but I heard the detective let out a little exasperated sigh.

"Promise me from now on you will allow yourself to share your problems even if it's just with me, it's important to have someone you can bounce your issues and worries off"

I tipped my head back up, looking at her from behind my sweaty bangs. The ends of her perfectly soft pink lips twitched up slightly, her eyes holding a degree of concern. I scratched my cheek, a little embarrassed, but happier with her reassurance. I placed my elbow on the corner of the table, my pinkie finger pointed at the detective.

"I promise as long as you promise to the same thing" I agreed with a grin.

She glanced down to the outstretched digit then back up, slight confusion clouding her features.

"What does this mean?" She wondered, glancing back down again with a puzzled expression.

"O-Oh well, m-me and you used to have this tradition of sealing promises with a pinkie swear…" I explained in a rather ham-fisted manner. It did seem kind of childish in retrospect but it was one of the many unwritten laws and quirks our friendship had. "A- I… Don't worry, it just a silly li- "

I was promptly halted by the feeling of her leathered little finger coil leisurely and calmly around my own. She was looking me dead in the eyes, and I swear I haven't seen a person more attractive. Her lilywhite features, framed by waves of silky lavender hair that still seemed glossy even after everything that has happened, were coloured by a faint colouring of rose which im sure she was desperately trying to hide under the layers of her mask. She quickly peered away for a second to school her expression, a second too long for my liking.

"I agree to your terms" She approved after an awkward cough. Jewels of amethyst danced, searching my face for a positive reaction. I, not burdened with the need to keep my expression under wraps, blushed heavily as my loose shirt felt as though it was tightening around my damaged neck.

It took a lot of self-control not to splutter out the things on my mind, but a tender squeeze would suffice. My heart pumped erratically when she returned the sentiment on instinct, most likely not a conscious decision on her part. She coughed awkwardly to break to the silence for the second time in about thirty seconds.

"A-Anyways" She announced, the mask back in business fully now. "While we are on the matter. When I asked if you were okay, I didn't necessarily mean physically"

"Huh?" I responded, only now relinquishing my grip on her pinkie.

She flicked her head towards the main room, down the hall.

"Well considering what happened down there, how are you feeling?"

" _Good question"_

I contemplated the question silently, my gaze pointed at the floor.

"I don't know…" I muttered dumbly, face growing numb.

"Talk to me" She replied, her voice matching my own quiet tone.

"On one hand… I feel horrible… I ended that person's life, and they used to be a regular person just like you and I. The sounds and the things I saw… They'll haunt me forever" Legs shaking rapidly and voice cracking, I dragged a hand through my dishevelled hair. "But on the flipside, I couldn't just let myself die… And in the back of my mind, I automatically justified it because, he was endangering not just my live, but all of ours and others either directly or indirectly... If I let him live, he would continue to act as a danger to our group and to other survivors he could come across…"

"It's perfectly normal to feel guilty Makoto" She reassured, the facade refusing to fall now. "Unfortunately, the world that we live in will ask much of us...You weren't wrong to do what you did, you did what you needed to do to protect yourself and the group"

"I suppose so, doesn't stop me from feeling horrible though" I sighed tiredly, picking myself out of my chair. "But thank you for listening Kyoko, it felt good to push that off my chest"

"You don't need to thank me" She replied as she mimicked my action.

"Well, how about you share now" I offered, an encouraging smile urging her on.

The detective took a moment of thoughtful consideration before opening her mouth to reply. However, she was interrupted by a loud rumbling from inside the main work area which was followed by loud whooping and howling.

"Later then?" I exclaimed as my tired legs began to carry me out of the room

Kyoko followed suit, her boots clicking loudly in the hallway after me.

"Later it is then"

 **A/N**

 **I updated twice in a week(ish)!? Blasphemy.**

 **I just want to say a quick thank you for all the love ive been getting in follows, favs, reviews, comments and Kudos'- you guys are my motivational force as cheesy as that sounds. So please keep it up and feel free to ask me anything or even just encourage me cos i do sometimes need it to close out a chapter.**

 **Also, Im sorry naekusaba fans, you guys havent been getting much shiptease so far in this but episode nine of future arc got me fired up to right that little bit of Naegiri interaction at the end. Also, im not sure if itll be next chapter or the one after that but i intend to give some characters we havent seen much of the spotlight like Sayaka and Hifumi and Celes etc And also we should get to see some more ships sail.**

 **Also for readers on FF. net who wont know the list of ships I plan to use its Naegiri, Naekusaba, Ishimondo, Asakure and togafuka but this list may change (not sure on some like asakure)**

 **Lastly- you may have seen my kicking around on tumblr Being a dickhead so if you wanna follow me and stay updated on releases My URl is AllOfMyFriendsAreDead**

 **Feel free to message me about anything if you so please**

 **Anyways, Ta ra and have a nice day!**


	9. Chapter 9

Upon entering the main work area, myself and Kyoko were greeted by the raucous firing of pistons as Mondo revved the engine. While the mechanical exploits of the biker were more than impressive, the car was less so. It was your regular, dime-a-dozen, soccer mom esque people carrier. On the positive side though, this meant more seats and a people carrier was better than no car after all. Now that I wasn't in the dark or having my life threatened, I could properly study the room. The people who used to work here seemed to be an untidy bunch. Different tools and parts were scattered around haphazardly, especially around the myriad of different cars. Some of the vehicles were elevated for the convenience of the mechanics, while some were still grounded and shrouded in tarpaulin.

Noticing our arrival, Hina turned to us with a wide grin.

"Isn't is awesome!?"

"Yes, remarkable" Kyoko replied, her voice only just loud enough from being drowned out by the rumble of the engine.

Leaving the two to chat among themselves, I approached Oowada. When he saw me, the Biker pulled the keys from the ignition.

"You finished with it?" I asked as I looked around the car. It wasn't in the cleanest condition, but honestly it didn't matter all that much. All that matters is that it runs.

"Can't tell" He grunted as his hands slipped of the wheel "Not till we get it out on the road"

The Biker glanced down at me, seeing the small frown that his words caused. The biker's eyebrows furrowed heavily. He then jabbed the shoulder on my good side.

"Oi. I didn't say that it wouldn't work did I ya bastard"

"Y-Yeah a-… Good t-then" I replied, as I rubbed the pain away from the spot where the biker punched me.

"And it gets fuckin' better" Oowada said, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he exited the cockpit.

"Huh?"

I followed the biker as he approached one of the many shapes covered in tarpaulin. He ripped the sheet away with an aggressive flourish. The sheet fluttered gracefully in the air, falling in painfully slow motion. It would have landed on Mukuro if she hadn't of skipped deftly out of its way. Underneath said tarpaulin was the sleek body of a smart saloon car, resplendent in frost white.

"This thing could probably reach sixty MPH in about four seconds" Mukuro remarked as she circled the machine.

Hina looked at the soldier with a slight amount of surprise, brow arched. "Wait, how do you know even know that?"

"Fenrir used vehicles similar to this one as their Urban response vehicles, so im familiar" Mukuro replied as she opened the passenger's side door to inspect the insides.

"It's badass dude!" Hiro exclaimed, probably trying to hazard a guess at what price he could sell it at to his mafia creditors.

I wasn't into cars much as a kid, it was just something that didn't interest me all too much. However, that wasn't to say that I didn't think the car in front of me wasn't cool as hell, because it most certainly is. Curious, I slipped into the driving seat. My hand reached for the keys already inserted in the ignition, and gave it a sharp turn.

The car fired up into life, roaring angrily, before spluttering, then dying a wheezing death.

Hiro looked on disappointedly, the glimmer that was previously in his eyes all but gone. "Yo, is it asthmatic or something?"

"The alternator's fucked" Oowada said gruffly, punctuated with the sound of him popping the hood.

Hina peered into the bowels of the machine as she wore an inquisitive look on her face. "The what now?"

"The alternator, it's what gives the battery and the dash juice. Keeps it charged" He explained as he stuck his neck under the bonnet with screwdriver in hand.

"Well do we need it to start? If the battery isn't flat then there should be no problem" Kyoko wondered, glove handling chin in a way that could only be described as 'trademark Kirigiri'.

"Aint gonna work like that" Mondo disagreed, his gravelly voice slightly echoing against the top of the bonnet. "Some engines need the alternator working and in place even if the battery aint fucking flat"

"Surely there are enough parts we can cannibalise from the other cars?" Mukuro asked Mondo as she joined myself at the front of the car.

"We can, but that aint the only problem" He replied, accompanied by a grunt of annoyance as he twisted the screwdriver into what I assumed was the broken alternator. "You can bet there is shit that I can't do dick about like the ABS, then there is shit that might be wrong with the engine that we will only find out when we get out there and start driving"

"We'll do what we can now and then go get the others, we can do more maintenance when we put some distance between us and Tokyo" I suggested, leaving a silence after I had finished to allow the others to voice their opinions.

In response, I got a set of five agreeing nods.

"You guys can fuck off; I don't need any help for this and you may as well get some rest" Oowada grunted before making a slight glance at me. "Especially you kid, you look like battered shit"

Though I didn't particularly appreciate being referred to as 'kid', I found myself nodding tiredly.

"Believe me, I feel like it"

"Just sleep in the back of the people carrier" Oowada suggested, concentration still centred on the engine block, as people dispersed.

"Come get me when your done or if you need help" I told the biker as I headed away.

Oowada made no effort to respond, obviously caught up deeply in the trappings of mechanic work. I tiredly wandered over to the people carrier, my feet screaming with every step for me to stop. Slipping carefully onto the backseat, I placed my arms behind my head and propped my feet up on the parallel door. Was I comfortable? No. Would it do? It would have to. It was only now that I could fully appreciate how very exhausted I was, like I was continuously carrying a sack of rocks over my shoulder. With eyelids drooping lazily, I relaxed my body and prepared myself to fade away to unconsciousness.

However, my hopes for a long nap were, unfortunately, scuppered when a loud clang echoed throughout the compound. Sleepy eyes seared as they were met once more by the bright artificial hanging lights fixed on the corrugated metal roof above. With blurry vision, I strained to decipher the time from my watch. It had been fifteen minutes. Wonderful. My sigh was accentuated with another bone grating clang. Unsure as to if I would be allowed rest, I stepped out of the car once more. I could always rest later when we start driving, after all.

Not sure what to do with my time, I found myself outside the main building, in the parking lot. The weather had apparently taken a turn for the worse. What previously was bright sun covered partially by white fluffy clouds, was replaced by an expanse of dark grey. The dreary landscape was accompanied with the slow drizzle of chilling rain, which looked like it was only going to get heavier as the day dragged on. I resigned myself to that fact as I relaxed up against the wall, sheltered from the light rain by the rim of the roof.

"Hey"

Jumping in surprise slightly, I whirled around to find Mukuro standing awkwardly in the door way.

"Oh, hey Mukuro" I replied, slightly embarrassed by my reaction. "You sure do have a habit of scaring me"

"Maybe you're just not being observant enough" She chided, adopting the same stance as me with back pushed up straight against the wall.

"Blame it on the lack of sleep"

And then, as if on cue, I let a yawn escape my gritted teeth. Mukuro let out a soft laugh, as she watched me try, and fail, to beat it back. The atmosphere entered an awkward silence, the only sounds being the shallow breathing and slight pitter patter of rain. Deciding it would have to be me to break the quiet, considering the cagey nature of the soldier, I cleared my throat.

"Mukuro, can I ask you something"

The soldier side-eyed me slightly, orbs of gun metal grey showing a mix of concern and confusion.

"G-Go ahead"

"Well being a soldier. You've done…Things… Right" I tiptoed diplomatically. "Things you might regret"

The soldier stared off into the distance for a moment as she contemplated my words.

"I… I don't regret anything I did with Fenrir. When you become a soldier, your comrades become your family and I did what I had to, too protect that family…"

I watched the soldier dip her head, eyes pointed at the growing puddles of the parking lot. Her gaze had glazed over, deep in thought. I didn't utter a word, deciding to let her continue.

"That's why I did everything Junko said, she was family too… But god was I blind, so _fucking_ deluded…!"

She spat the words out with venom, an obvious bitter taste in her mouth.

"She knew how guilty I felt after I left her when she was young, and she used that against me…"

Mukuro's fists closed tightly, knuckles pointed like bright spears.

"I did everything I did so I could earn her forgiveness…"

The soldier paused once again, trying to clear clouded angry thoughts. She opened her mouth to confess more, but she clamped it shut, confusion and doubt spreading over her face. Even more confusion, plus a good dose of embarrassment, took over when she noticed my hand resting on her shoulder.

"You okay?" I asked quietly, my voice barely louder than the gentle pitter-patter of rain. "If you need to air more stuff out, im here"

The soldier blinked, eyes gawking, cheeks dusted with bright pink.

"I-I think im good" The soldier muttered, acting more anxious than usual as she refused to meet my gaze.

"If you need to talk about stuff, just ask me, im here" I said, mustering up my brightest smile.

Taken aback slightly, Mukuro side- eyed me widely.

"Y-you are, aren't you" The soldier replied, voice faltering and peaking slightly. She stole another quick glance, only to try to hide her expression again with a turn of the head.

Unlike Kyoko, Mukuro wasn't exactly a master of hiding her emotions- even more so when she got flustered. Like Kyoko though, she did make certain specific questions pop into my mind. Not questions like 'What is she really feeling?' and 'What isn't she saying', No. The questions that were synonymous with the soldier were more along the lines of 'How can she go from being a one of the world's most skilled operators and combat specialists to a blushing school girl so fast?'

Seeing the dainty cheeks of the mercenary brighten and blossom that pink twinge, I couldn't help but follow from her example.

"We've got each other's back…" I responded with a small smile, trying not to sound embarrassed or stepping over the unspoken threshold and making her embarrassed.

Mukuro stiffly nodded in reply, in a very robotic manner. Almost as if her mind was completely occupied.

The air turned chillier and I couldn't tell if it was a product of the awkward atmosphere or if it accompanied the worsening rain.

"C'mon" I announced. "Let's get inside before it starts tipping it down"

I began walking over to the entrance, and I got to the doorway before realising Mukuro hadn't budged whatsoever. I went to get her attention, but she spoke up first.

"Makoto…" She spoke, her voice level. "Do you hate me?"

"W-What?!" I exclaimed, surprised and slightly appalled she would even ask me that.

I quickly closed the distance, my walking boots crunching and clicking against the gritty gravel. Rather than spinning her around to face me and risk being knocked out, I deliberately stepped into the eyesight of the mercenary.

With eyebrows heavily furrowed and rain trickling from the rim of the roof onto me, I spoke with lower voice that habitual.

"Why would you even say that? You know I don't"

The soldier shrugged awkwardly, not daring to look me in the eyes.

"I wouldn't blame for you if you d- "

The soldier was soon hushed by my shoulder, arms curving just above her thin waist.

"I could never hate you Mukuro, I don't blame you whatsoever…" I spoke quietly, tone low.

Mukuro stood frozen, like deer in headlights, spine frozen solid.

"M-Makoto…" She spluttered, not daring to reciprocate the action.

"Mukuro, If I hated you, do you think I would've taken you with us?" I questioned. "Some of the group would've preferred if we abandoned you at the academy, but I'd never let that happen because I know ultimately you're not at fault…"

The soldier was hushed once more. She stiffly resigned herself to crossing her arms around my back, carefully as if I was as fragile as a fine china pot.

"Plus…" I continued. "I need you"

The words were plain and simple, but that didn't stop them from throwing the soldier off completely. Mukuro reeled her head back in shock, blush so, large that I couldn't help but feel second-hand embarrassment.

"I think the headmaster but too much faith in me when he died, and I need you to carry the load with me" I explained, keeping her in my arms. "I really don't think I could do this by myself"

"You should give yourself more credit" The soldier grumbled, placing her forehead on my shoulder. "While perhaps less so physically, your one of the strongest in the class Makoto"

I bashfully shook my head, dismissing the words while she just smiled demurely. Finally deciding the hug was getting slightly awkward, I unlatched myself from Mukuro.

"How does it feel?" I asked after retreating slightly from the soldier. "Having a new family to protect?"

The soldier nodded confidently, understanding completely, a comfortable smile growing steadily but surely.

"Feels familiar…Feels nice" The soldier answered, contemplatively. "Fighting for survival, out gunned, outnumbered but not necessarily out classed. Just another day at the office"

I let a light chuckle out in response.

"Good thing your confident about it, it may rub off on me"

Silence took over once more as we both contently smiled.

This was then rudely interrupted as the sound of metal clanging, like the clinking of chains, echoed from the main gate. Myself and Mukuro shared a look from the corner of each other's eyes.

"That can't be good…" I muttered under my breath.

"I very much doubt it" The raven haired girl said, all happiness on her featured drained and replaced by a veteran's frown.

I found my knife tucked in my belt, before turning to my companion.

"Go inside, get everyone ready to leave as soon as possible" He commanded, joined by the flicking sound of blade coming to the fore.

"Only investigate it Makoto, don't be stupid"

The soldier then promptly dashed inside, purposely leaving the door open for me.

Now on my lonesome, I crept to the buildings corner to peer around cautiously. From where I was, I could make out a collection of people. I couldn't make out details, except for a small smattering of red eyes that lacked pairs. Thankfully, we had the collective wisdom to lock the gate back up before leaving it unguarded.

I swiftly scuttled across the parking lot, shoulders dropped low, until I reached the shipping container which offered adequate cover. I peeked once more, only to see one of the figures bend over, and produce something from a duffel bag. After fiddling with the object, the group stepped away quickly. Twigging what this implied, I started to sprint back to the side door.

XxX

Kyoko involuntarily jumped in surprise when she heard a cacophonous boom rock the room. First Mukuro had run into the room, warning the four that they needed to leave ASAP, and now there was explosions? Just fantastic.

" _Just what is happening is out there?"_

The detective wondered as she ferried Jerry cans brimming with precious oil to the trunk of the people carrier. It was then that Makoto came bursting into the room, panting like a dog left in the back of the car on a sunny day.

"We are…Leaving now!" The Luckster managed between gasps.

"What's happening?" Shrieked the Shaman, asking the question on everybody's lips.

"Rioters, outside, we must've tripped an alarm or something" Makoto answered as he slammed the door. "Oowada! How long?!"

"Just needa screw a couple more things in!" Came the gruff reply, as the biker's hands moved a mile-a-minute to screw some un-descript thing in.

"Quick as you can!" Encouraged the Luckster as he pressed his weight against the door. "Im gonna need some help guys!"

In response, Hagakure, Mukuro and the detective herself joined Makoto at the door. Meanwhile, Oowada continued to try to finish fixing car while Aoi was still shoving things into the boot of the car.

"Kyoko!" Called Makoto. "Find something to bolt the door with"

With instructions, the detectives mind revved. She vividly recalled a rack of tools being built into the wall nearby, and so she had her plan. Finding the rack across the room, her gloved hand wrapped around the metal length of a spanner, before practically sprinting back to the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Oowada step into the driving seat of the saloon, keys in hand.

They were trying siege the room now, evidenced by the fact that large banging noises were resonating from behind the door. That, and the fact that the three defenders; Makoto, Mukuro and Hiro, were vehemently pushing back rather than just placing their weight against it.

Kirigiri deftly handed the tool to Mukuro, like a baton pass in a relay race, who then immediately placed it in the handle. With door now bolted, the three stepped back slowly. The aggression from behind the door continued, screaming and smashing originating from outside. This continued for about a minute, until it began evident that they had given up.

" _They gave up fast…Odd"_ Noted the detective mentally, awareness still working overtime.

She didn't have much time to really thing about it, as Makoto demanded her attention.

"Alright guys, let's get outta here" Their diminutive leader said as he backed away from the door, eyeing it carefully like a rabid dog. "Hiro, keys for the people carrier are in the ignition, Oowada? You done?"

The Luckster finally turned his back on the door, ready for a reply. Instead of words, however, his response came in the form of a roaring engine and a grinning biker hanging his head out of the driver's seat window.

"Am I badass or wh- "

The voice of Oowada was soon drowned out by a cataclysmic clap that reverberated around the room with such ear deafening force. Kyoko spun to the noise in a knee jerk reaction, shielding her face from an unbearable heat with her arm with little to no effect. No precise planning or faultless perception could help her from what happened next, though. Propelled by the explosion, a chunk of wood hurtled towards her, striking her smartly just above her brow. She crumpled forward, consciousness fading into bleak darkness. On her knees and leaning forward, the detective was vaguely aware of someone's arms keeping her from falling flat. Curios, and with consciousness all but gone, she pitched her head high. The last thing she saw before slipping into black, were a pair of panic stricken olivine eyes staring back at her petrified.

 **A/N**

 **Alright so please read all of this if you can be asked.**

 **So yeah, sorry for being ghost for so long. School has started up again, so that means ive snowed under by work. in addition, it was my 18th birthday a couple of weeks ago, so as you can imagine ive been busy. #sesh**

 **Also, you know, battlefield 1. Its badass as fuck**

 **Cos of school, im gonna have to try to shorten up chapters to keep up a reasonable rate of uploads. If you have any other suggestions, please enlighten me :3**

 **ANYWAYS, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING**

 **As some of you may know, its Naegiri week 2k16 from the 18th to the 25th of december, and to celebrate! I gonna make 5 fanfics for the five week days of Naegiri week.**

 **UPLOAD LIST**

 **Monday: Drabble collection, just little short stories to act as a warm up**

 **Tuesday: N/A**

 **Wednesday: N/A**

 **Thursday: Fluffy little christmas fic**

 **Friday: To celebrate the last day- im gonna try my hnd at wrting smut! Im jst saying, its gonna be so very self indulgent so you know, not exactly gonna be fluffy, just pure smut.**

 **As you can see, ive got two open space on tues and weds, thats where you come in, my lovely readers! Please suggest ideas! Anything is acceptable! So please share with me, and your idea may be added to the rotation, i need your help!**

 **Okay, TLDR- school is shit, help me with my lack of imagination.**

 **So, anyways, i thank you again for all the love and support, please continue because it encourages me to write more!**

 **Thank you and goodnight!**


	10. Chapter 10

A kaleidoscope of swirling colours hit the young detective in disorientating waves as she tried to pry her heavy eyelids open. Her vision pooled upon opening them, light hues washing into a blur like a water-colour painting in the rain. Just how long had she been out cold? She inferred by the candle sitting on the bedside table that it must be deep in the night. The detective groaned audibly as she strained to get into a sitting position.

"Don't…" came a quiet voice, emanating from just beside her.

The person in question lightly pushed her back by her shoulders, the girl not putting up too much resistance

"…You need your rest Kyoko"

Even with her busy head, Kyoko recognised the softness in the tone.

"Makoto?" The detective called out dumbly, eyes straining to see the brunette in the dimly candle-lit room. Though her vision persisted on being poor, she could now make the boy out. He looked pretty beaten up and tired himself, large dark bags sat under his olive green eyes accompanied by a whole selection of nasty lesions.

"Here" The boy replied as he took a wet cloth to the purple-haired girls forehead.

The detective flinched slightly in surprise when she felt the foreign dampness soothe her pain, becoming accustomed to the slight coolness after a few fleeting moments.

"What happened?" She croaked, voice raspy with dryness.

Noticing this, Makoto snatched his water bottle, tipping it to the detectives lips much to her gratitude and admitted embarrassment which she refused to make visible.

"Well, what do you remember?" The Luckster asked, placing the water bottle on the floor next to his ancient rocking chair.

"I remember being at the garage, then the explosion…" She trailed off, trying to concentrate on piecing together her shattered memories. After a moment of contemplation, the girl sighed with an annoyed cadence. "That's about it"

"I see" The brunette acknowledged,

"So…" Kyoko prompted. "What happened?"

The corners of Makoto's mouth twitched up slightly, his eyes drifting to the pitch-black darkness out of the window partially covered by decrepit and mangy looking net curtains.

"Let's just say… Im glad we've got Mukuro"

 **XxX**

Back in her Fenrir days, back when she was merely a breathing extension of her rifle, Mukuro had quite a few things drilled continuously into her impressionable young mind. One of these tenants of mercenary work was the importance of keeping composed in the face of danger.

She could tell the others were scared stiff, even the big and scary Mondo, but they'd soon learn how to deal with it. Especially considering it was their very lives at stake. That's what she hoped anyways.

While the others stood paralyzed, Mukuro deftly moved in front of Makoto and the now unconscious Kyoko. The soldier glanced down to her side, quickly studying the face of the Luckster.

The boy stared wide-eyed at the source of the explosion, iron-grey smoke pluming out of the door. Mukuro could tell he was shaken up, but now was hardly the time to act idle.

"Makoto…"

The brunette's eyes were unconcentrated, vacant, for a moment before darting up to look at the soldier. Makoto nodded quickly to demonstrate that the soldier was being acknowledged, before looking down at the detective that he was currently supporting. As he suspected, she was completely unconscious. However, she didn't look badly injured which was a relief.

"…Concentrate"

The Brunette smiled demurely before getting a better hold of the detective.

"Mukuro, can you buy us some time?"

"Of course I can" The soldier replied coolly.

If the reply had come from anyone else Makoto might've thought that it sounded rather cocky, but considering who it was coming from he knew it was anything but. Mukuro grabbed a stainless steel spanner (wrench) as she cautiously strode towards the door, shoulders soon hunching over slightly into a more combat-ready stance before leaping into the gun-metal smoke.

"Alright guys! We're going!" The Ex-Luckster called out, fighting off the pain bursting from his wounds as he stood up with the detective slumped over his shoulder.

Makoto looked over his shoulder as he started walking, gazing at the smoke with an unsure frown pulling on his lips. If he was confident about one thing, then it was her skill set. However, that didn't stop him from worrying about the possibility of her biting off more than she could chew, throwing herself into the fray foolhardily to protect them against danger as some sort of penance for her sins. Soon enough; clashing of metal chorused from the corridor, soon supplemented by the grunts of the masked assailants.

Makoto had managed to slump the unconscious girl with Hina in the back of the minivan, who immediately began to look the purple-haired girl over.

"Makoto, you gotta hit the shutter doors!" Mondo shouted, a burly arm hanging out of the window pointed towards a set of large red buttons connected to the wall next to the shutters.

Considering Hiro and Mondo were driving and the two other conscious girls had their hands full as well, it had to be him. Regardless of his wounds, he dashed towards the console. Due to the fact he had no idea what button corresponded with what action, he went with the 'hit and hope' approach of mashing each one once. Thankfully, echoing dull clangs filled the room as the metal plates began to shift with creaking groans.

With the two vehicles queuing up to leave, Makoto dashed towards the continuing skirmish.

"Mukuro, we need to leave!"

Mukuro was keeping the assailants at bay, but the smoke had almost fully cleared which meant Makoto could see the seemingly endless amount of enemies pouring in from the outside. To add to their problems, with the shutter doors now open, they might end up getting flanked and trapped between a proverbial rock and hard place. If they were going to escape, they needed to scarper now even if it means turning their backs on the enemy.

"Be there in a second!" She shouted back before placing a jab smartly in between the cartoonish eyes of a masked aggressor.

Before she could engage the next target, a hand grabbed her free hand and pulled her back with a measured amount of force, not enough to throw her completely off balance but enough so that she knew how serious her leader was.

"Now!"

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Mukuro sprung backwards to avoid getting caught by the threats closing in and began to turn towards the car. However, as she backed away from the door with nimble steps, she saw an amber glow in the hands of one of the attackers.

" _Fire?"_ Mukuro thought to herself.

Her question was soon answered when she noticed the object in the other hand. A long bottle with blackened rags spilling out of the top.

"Shit!" Mukuro hissed with short breath.

Makoto hadn't noticed, too concerned with getting away to realise the imminent danger they were in, but Mukuro knew all too well the hazard, especially when she saw the lighter strike against the oiled pieces of cloth.

She had to do to something now, there was no way she was going to risk getting everyone burned alive. With this in mind, she looked down at the bloodied tool still in her hands. It was their chance to eliminate two birds with one stone, their only chance.

Mukuro brung her strong arm right back before whipping it back around and launching the steel instrument into the air straight at the bulky looking man who was preparing to throw the cocktail.

The throw had the desired effect, the spanner crashing straight into the face of the attacker with a dull clang. Due to the amount of force put into the throw, the Molotov that was previously cradled in fingers fell to the floor and erupting in flames as it cracked on the corridor floor. The entryway was rapidly engulfed in a maelstrom of orange blaze, burning all that was in there and blocking anymore from coming in.

Seeing the destruction, the two teens decided not the dilly-dally, bundling themselves into the cars in a panic.

"You guys okay!?" Hiro yelled as he wasted no time in putting the saloon in gear and taking off in pursuit of the now leaving minivan.

Makoto looked down over himself before giving the soldier who had dived into the backseat with him a few fleeting glances. In all honestly, she looked in much better shape than what he imagined he looked like.

"Think so!"

"That was way too close guys" The clairvoyant complained, a hairy hand pacing its way through an even hairier head of dreads.

"Tell me about it" Mukuro and Makoto chorused practically in unison.

"Well, anyways…" Hiro said with an out of place chuckle. "Next stop; the creepy cabin"

 **XxX**

"Honestly, we were lucky. If they had guns we would've been toast…" The Ex-Luckster trailed off with an awkward shrug. "But we got the cars and everyone made it out alive, that's all I can ask for"

"I see…" Kyoko trailed off, bringing a gloved hand to her chin. "Where are we now then?"

"A small suburb on the outskirts of Okaya, Lake Suwa is just outside of the window" Makoto answered, nodding to the window with the drawn curtains.

"We made It quite far then" Kyoko prompted.

"Me and Mukuro decided that we should put enough distance between us and Tokyo as possible, we were running out of fuel though so we decided to take a couple of country roads until we found this little housing estate" Makoto explained, before giving off a strong yawn. He must not have had slept in a while, Kyoko noted.

"Smart decision, hopefully our pursuers will past right by us" She agreed as she rubbed her temples.

"Hopefully, but that will only mean that our progress might be slowed in the future" A frown worked its way onto the boy's lips, becoming distracted for just a moment as he got distracted by his worries. A moment later though, he shook his head softly to clear his mind. "Regardless, it's not like we had a choice. We need supplies and we could do with some time to lick our wounds, de-stress a little"

A slight smile crept unto the Detective's features, a smile that was soon stifled by the iron mask she had grown so attached too. She found it encouraging that they weren't going into things hastily, thinking through things logically.

"Seems like a good start, too much tension would have a negative effect on morale. Of course we can't stay here forever though, I suppose you have a plan?"

The Luckster grinned lightly, bashful and awkward.

"The plan is simple really, gather supplies from the nearby area then make our way towards Kyoto" Makoto answered, the mere mention of Kyoto reminding him off the fact that he might have to come clean with Togami about his family. "However, in the even shorter term, you need your rest"

"I feel fine Makoto" Kyoko assured with confidence. Confidence that soon wavered when she stood up and was hit with a wave of disorientation.

"Are you sure about that?" He jested, standing to block her way to the door.

With a sympathetic smile, the Brunette put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you hate siting still and relaxing, but I don't want to risk you getting hurt worse"

Makoto nearly baulked when he noticed flash of pink steak across the pale face of the detective. The boy quickly retracted his hand, he needed to remember that Kyoko only had retained fragments of her memory and certainly not their time together at school. Fazed, but not deterred from convincing her, he continued.

"Hina and Mukuro both think you'll be fine, but with head injuries you can never be sure. So, with that in mind, I want you to relax for a bit while we keep an eye on you"

Admittedly, he was right on two counts. She wasn't the type to allow inactivity and rushing her recovery wouldn't be a wise move on her part. With that being said, there were plenty of questions that's still needed to be solved and who better to solve them than the Ultimate Detective. However, if they were going to dig in for a couple of days to build strength then she may as well take the time to recover completely. Though Kyoko's natural curiosity urged her to find answer in this confusing world, she reluctantly nodded and took a seat on the side of the bed.

Relieved, Makoto gave a stilted smile to the detective before turning to leave.

"Okay im gonna to leave you to get some rest, either I or someone else will be back in the morning with some breakfast"

A couple of beats of silence except from footsteps muted by the decrepit carpet and Makoto had made it to the door.

"Makoto…" The Detective called out, swivelling her head just a little to look at the boy eye to eye. "Get some rest too, you complain that I look rough but you apparently haven't seen yourself"

Makoto could've sworn he saw a corner of the girl's mouth creep up in a mischievous smirk, a smirk that triggered a warm feeling of nostalgia to blossom in his chest. Before he could answer though, she continued.

"Also… I believe our conversation at the mechanic was interrupted…" The detective awkwardly worded, trying to think about the most diplomatic way of placing her words. Makoto didn't know if it was because he was so exhausted, but he swore he saw a flash of pink come and go like cherry blossoms in the spring. "When you asked me to share after you had told me how you were really feeling about this whole…Everything"

"Y-Yeah sure…" Makoto stammered, itching the back of his head to occupy idle hands. "When we both get some free time then I'd be glad to talk…"

"Thank you"

A slight curving of her lips was enough to coax a wide grin from the Luckster.

"I'll see you later" He chirped as he headed towards, his warm smile accompanied by a small wave.

"Later, Makoto"

 _ **A/N**_

 ***rolls up on heelies***

 **Wagwan bruh**

 **So, first things first, i was kinds gone for a while. Since like December. I can't describe how sorry i am for that geezers.**

 **So in January i had practice exams, then i had some family and relationship problems. Relatable tm im sure. I was just drained as fuck and i really had no motivation to write whatsoever. I tried to do some one shots but that didn't help.**

 **Before i knew it, it was my actual exams and i needed to study like a fucking monk or some shit.**

 **Anyways, less about the past and more about the future right?**

 **So i get my results in august and it will cause one of three things**

 **A. I get all the results i want and i get to university.**

 **B. i fail perhaps one subject, i resit the year doing one subject, and i go to uni next year. (the most likely outcome tbh)**

 **C. I fail real bad and i just get an apprenticeship or something?**

 **So all three should mean that i have more time to write which may sound weird but in England at least, sixth form (The type of education im in right now) is considered as way more stressful than university. At University you do one subject super in depth but at sixth form you do 3-4 subjects just in less depth. So you might be doing less complicated stuff but youve got to juggle more types of info and tests etc. TL:DR hopefully ive got more time to write regardless of my test outcomes.**

 **Next item on the itinerary. Yo is anybody still gonna read this? like ive been gone for a while so i get it if people have abandoned the story which is a shame but i get it you know. So please. comment and let me know thats there still interest. Ill write this as long as ive got people reading you know, its for you guys!**

 **Next! Sorry if this chapter is kinda shit. im real rusty. i did this in like a week. please dont hate me.**

 **Next! Kuda? you gonna do anything else you complete degenerate?**

 **YA DAMN RIGHT I AM!**

 **So im gonna finish up all them one shots i tried to do before. Mostly Naegiri. I know i asked on my tumblr for people to suggest stuff and im pretty sure Ramixthered (I think thats the guy anyways?) requested something like a marriage fic i believe and don't worry i aint forgotten, I gotchu fam.**

 **second of all, im thinking about branching out into some Konosuba stuff soon so if you like Konosuba then perhaps you should follow my tumblr or my account *wink wink***

 **With that outta the way i think im done with this long ass note section.**

 **Its 4:40 am currently. I need sleep.**

 **Alrighty then. hope you enjoyed. please leave some feedback.**

 **stay safe and ill see you next time!**


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